Banking & Economy Current Affairs September 2026

The US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on 16 September 2026, lifting the federal funds target range to 3.75%-4.00% — its first increase since July 2023. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted 12-0 in favour. Chair Kevin Warsh cited persistent inflation, with US consumer prices up 3.4% year-on-year in August 2026, well above the Fed's 2% long-run goal. The statement described economic activity as expanding at a solid pace on resilient household spending and strong capital investment. Updated projections showed 16 of 18 officials expecting at least one more quarter-point increase before the end of 2026.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released National Accounts Statistics 2026 on 31 August 2026, carrying 60 statements built on Final Estimates for FY23 and FY24, First Revised Estimates for FY25 and revised indicators for FY26. Real GDP growth was revised to 7.3% for FY24 (from 7.2%), 7.2% for FY25 (from 7.1%) and 7.8% for FY26 (from 7.7%), while nominal growth for FY25 and FY26 was cut to 9.4% and 8.6%. The publication uses the new 2022-23 base year series introduced on 27 February 2026, replacing 2011-12. MoSPI separately reported 7.8% real and 10.3% nominal GDP growth in Q1 of FY 2026-27.

SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited (SBI Card) launched a fully digital journey on State Bank of India's YONO platform letting eligible customers apply for the 'Advantage SBI Card', a fixed deposit-backed secured credit card, in about 10 minutes. The facility was inaugurated by SBI Chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty, with SBI MD Ashwini Kumar Tewari and SBI Card MD & CEO Salila Pande present. It spans four variants — SBI Card ELITE, SBI Card PRIME, SimplyCLICK and SimplySAVE — with the fixed deposit acting as collateral, giving customers with little or no credit history a route to formal credit.

The Finance Ministry has barred banks and payment system providers from levying any charge on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions up to Rs 2,000 and on all payments made through RuPay-powered debit cards. The exemption was formalised by an amendment to Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, which lets the Centre notify electronic payment modes that must stay free of charges. Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) may still apply above Rs 2,000. In 2025-26 only 4% of person-to-merchant UPI payments crossed that threshold, yet they carried about two-thirds of UPI value. Rs 2,000 crore is budgeted for 2026-27 to subsidise such low-value transactions.

The 7th Global Fintech Fest (GFF 2026) was held from 8-11 September 2026 at the Jio World Centre, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai, and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Organised by the Payments Council of India, NPCI and the Fintech Convergence Council, its theme was "Potential to Impact: Agentic AI | Tokenisation | Quantum". Key announcements: the RBI recognised the Unified Fintech Forum (UFF) as the second Self-Regulatory Organisation for India's fintech sector; the RBI expanded multicurrency forex services on Bharat Connect to add the EUR, GBP, CAD, CHF and AED; and SEBI launched a Demat 2.0 pilot for tokenising corporate bonds using distributed ledger technology.

NPCI launched UPI Tap & Pay and the AI-powered My UPI platform on 10 September 2026 at the Global Fintech Fest 2026, unveiled by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra. Tap & Pay lets users tap an NFC-enabled phone on a point-of-sale terminal without opening a UPI app; it needs no mobile data because the transaction uses the terminal's connection, and carries a PIN-less limit of Rs 5,000. My UPI, built on NPCI's custom small language model FiMI (Finance Model for India), offers a unified dashboard of transactions and AutoPay mandates across banks plus a fraud 'safety switch'. Biometric-authenticated UPI transactions crossed 6.29 billion by 31 August 2026.

NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India, partnered with FOMO Pay, a Singapore-headquartered payment institution, in September 2026 to enable UPI QR code acceptance at Singapore merchants. Resorts World Sentosa is among the first merchant partners. Indian travellers can pay in rupees through UPI apps while Singapore merchants are settled in Singapore dollars. NIPL, incorporated on 3 April 2020 and headquartered in Mumbai, is a wholly owned NPCI subsidiary responsible for the global deployment of UPI and RuPay. The tie-up builds on the existing India-Singapore UPI-PayNow linkage.

Razorpay, in partnership with IndusInd Bank, launched 'RAY', a conversational Artificial Intelligence account manager on WhatsApp for businesses. RAY lets MSMEs manage payments, analyse transactions, generate payment links, issue refunds and resolve queries through simple chat messages, executing actions directly without a dashboard while tracking payment health and pushing alerts, insights and recommendations. Bajaj Finserv is among the first live users, and the platform has already recorded over 20,000 conversations, signalling a shift towards AI-led, real-time business support in Indian fintech. Razorpay, founded in 2014 by Shashank Kumar and Harshil Mathur, is headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

PhonePe, a Third Party Application Provider, launched UPI 123Pay, letting feature-phone users make Unified Payments Interface transactions without internet access through an SMS-based architecture that works even on low-bandwidth or 2G networks. Built on the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) framework, it supports P2P and P2M payments by mobile number or UPI ID, QR-code scanning on supported devices, and access to bank balance and transaction history. The service comes pre-installed on select Nokia, HMD, Lava International and itel Mobile handsets and is backed by an AI-powered voice helpline in English and 12 Indian languages, targeting financial inclusion beyond the smartphone economy.

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), exercising powers under Section 14 of the PFRDA Act, 2013, issued operational guidelines for NPS Swasthya, a health-linked scheme under the National Pension System, effective immediately. It pairs retirement savings with healthcare access via two components — an NPS Swasthya Investment Account and a Super Top-up. The family floater covers the subscriber, spouse and up to two dependent children, excluding parents; entry age is 18–70 years, renewable to 85. Minimum investment contribution is Rs 1,000, plus Rs 200 annual Health Benefit Administrator maintenance. Four deductible-cover combinations run from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited has been renamed ICICI Life Insurance Limited with effect from 22 September 2026, after approval from the Registrar of Companies. The change follows UK-based Prudential plc restructuring its India business: it plans to acquire a 75% controlling stake in Bharti Life Insurance and is being reclassified from promoter to a passive investor in the ICICI venture, since regulations bar promoter status in competing insurers. The company has amended its Memorandum and Articles of Association and will approach IRDAI for a revised Certificate of Registration. ICICI Bank had raised its stake in the insurer earlier in September 2026.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1 crore on IndusInd Bank for non-compliance with insurance-related grievance redressal and reporting requirements in its role as a corporate agent distributing insurance products. Banks that sell insurance act as corporate agents licensed by IRDAI and are bound by its registration, conduct and reporting norms; failures in logging, escalating or reporting policyholder complaints attract penalties under the Insurance Act, 1938. The order continues a run of regulatory action on bancassurance conduct, where mis-selling and weak complaint handling have drawn scrutiny from both IRDAI and the Reserve Bank of India.

Sagarmala Finance Corporation Limited (SMFCL), India's first NBFC dedicated to the maritime sector, launched India's first-ever Blue Bond on 28 September 2026, targeting Rs 600 crore with a Rs 500 crore green shoe option. The 10-year paper will fund maritime lending, greenfield port projects and coastal road networks, and carries an AA+ rating from ICRA and CARE, with SBI Capital Markets as arranger. Blue bonds are debt instruments earmarked for ocean- and water-related projects, the sovereign template having been set by Seychelles in 2018. SMFCL, incorporated in August 2016, is a Mini Ratna Category-I CPSE under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) board, meeting on 24 September 2026, approved the SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2026, headlined by PRIM — the Portfolio Managers Route for Investing in Mutual funds. PRIM lets portfolio managers deploy client money in direct plans of mutual funds, ETFs, index funds and Specialised Investment Funds at a minimum ticket size of Rs 25 lakh, with fees capped at 1% of client AUM. The board also cleared formula-based settlement amounts, a fast-track route for disclosure violations up to Rs 10 lakh, and stretched the settlement application window from 60 to 90 days.

Mastercard sold its whole 4.31% holding in Pine Labs for about Rs 933.57 crore through BSE block deals — a secondary sale, so Pine Labs itself raised nothing. Mastercard Asia/Pacific offloaded 4.97 crore shares across 13 tranches at an average Rs 187.75 a share. Buyers included ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund, Edelweiss Mutual Fund, Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Because the deal was a secondary sale, ownership simply moved between investors and no fresh shares were issued, so the company received none of the proceeds. Pine Labs, founded in 1998 and headquartered at Noida, is led by CEO and MD B. Amrish Rau.

SEBI issued a consultation paper on 12 September 2026 proposing changes to the Closing Auction Session (CAS) framework and to the settlement methodology for derivatives, weeks after CAS went live. CAS was introduced in the equity cash segment on 3 August 2026 for stocks that have derivatives contracts; earlier the closing price came from the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of the last 30 minutes of the continuous trading session. SEBI has asked whether expiry-day settlement prices should stay on that VWAP or move to a blended method using the last 30 minutes of trading plus 10 minutes of CAS. Comments close 3 October 2026.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to deepen cooperation and information exchange on Central Counterparties (CCPs) regulated by SEBI. Signed by SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey and ESMA Chair Verena Ross, it replaces their earlier 2017 agreement. The MoU lets SEBI-supervised Indian CCPs re-apply for ESMA recognition under Article 25 of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), and allows ESMA to rely on SEBI's supervision of those clearing houses. A CCP interposes itself between buyer and seller to manage counterparty risk and settle trades, making the pact important for India–EU cross-border clearing.

SEBI granted a Category-I merchant banking licence to Zerodha Corporate Advisors, the investment banking arm of the Bengaluru broker Zerodha, which applied on 27 April 2026 and was registered on 1 September 2026 as India's 249th registered merchant banker. The firm will begin with equity capital markets — IPOs, FPOs and advisory for issuers and investors — extending Zerodha's low-cost, no-hard-selling model into investment banking, with operations expected within months. Category-I merchant bankers may manage main-board public issues and undertake underwriting, and must hold a minimum net worth of Rs 50 crore (raised from Rs 5 crore), capped at 20 times liquid net worth; Category-II bankers need Rs 10 crore.

The National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) launched RAINCHNNAI, a cash-settled weather futures contract tied to rainfall in Chennai's Northeast monsoon. Settlement uses official India Meteorological Department data from the Meenambakkam and Nungambakkam stations. Trading initially covers September, October, November and December expiries, uses a Cumulative Deviation Rainfall (CDR) model measuring deviation from the Long Period Average, and carries a tick size of 1 millimetre with a maximum order lot size of 50 lots. Chennai draws nearly 70% of its annual rainfall from the Northeast monsoon, which runs October to December. RAINCHNNAI complements RAINMUMBAI, launched in May 2026, extending weather-risk hedging across India's June-to-December monsoon cycle.

India recorded its highest-ever annual foreign direct investment inflow of USD 94.53 billion in FY 2025-26, up from USD 81.0 billion in FY 2024-25, as announced by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on 25 September 2026. Cumulative FDI from FY 2014-15 to FY 2025-26 reached USD 843 billion. In the first quarter of FY 2026-27, FDI equity inflows rose 6% to USD 19.81 billion, with Japan emerging as the largest source country and services the top recipient sector. India's FDI policy is administered by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

In September 2026 the Ministry of Commerce and Industry reported that India's combined merchandise and services exports touched an estimated USD 399.27 billion during April-August of FY 2026-27, a growth of 15.5%. Merchandise exports alone stood at USD 215.91 billion, against USD 183.21 billion in the same period a year earlier, while total imports reached USD 459.65 billion, up 18.01%. For August 2026 alone, total exports were USD 82.68 billion, growing 25.41%, against imports of USD 92.09 billion, up 18.75%. Imports growing faster than exports widened the overall trade gap for the five-month period.

India and Mercosur announced on 14 September 2026 that they will begin negotiations to widen their Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), in force since June 2009, with Terms of Reference being drawn up to define the scope. India currently enjoys duty concessions on 450 product categories and Mercosur on 452. Bilateral trade stood at about US$21 billion in 2025. The two sides also signed the First Additional Protocol to the PTA, providing for paperless trade and acceptance of electronic Certificates of Origin, agreed at the fifth Joint Administrative Committee meeting on 9 April 2026. The expansion is intended to move towards a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.

India's foreign exchange reserves surged $44.9 billion in the week ended 4 September 2026 to a record $785.7 billion, pushing the country past Russia into fourth place globally, behind only China, Japan and Switzerland. The jump was driven by the RBI's FCNR(B) deposit scheme, launched on 8 June 2026, which had drawn $136.377 billion in inflows by 31 August. The milestone lands days after the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, where India pitched financial resilience for the Global South, and it thickens the import cover cushioning the rupee against external shocks.

India's foreign exchange reserves rose by $11.475 billion to an all-time high of $740.803 billion for the week ended 28 August 2026, according to RBI data, up from $729.33 billion a week earlier. This was the ninth consecutive weekly increase, adding nearly $75 billion over that stretch. Foreign Currency Assets, the largest component, rose $9.337 billion to $600.67 billion, while gold reserves gained $2.191 billion to $116.409 billion. The surge was driven largely by inflows under RBI's special dollar-deposit mobilisation programmes, which drew more than $136 billion between 5 June and 31 August 2026.

The Reserve Bank of India's monthly bulletin reported net foreign direct investment of USD 7.35 billion in July 2026, the highest monthly figure since May 2021 (USD 8.80 billion) and a 64% year-on-year jump. Gross FDI inflows stood at USD 14.58 billion, the third-highest in six years, with communication, financial and computer services together drawing 60% of equity inflows. For April–July 2026, net FDI was USD 13.4 billion, up 38% year-on-year, while gross inflows rose 12.6% to USD 43.9 billion. The monthly surge builds on the record annual FDI inflow of USD 94.53 billion India posted in FY 2025-26.

The OECD sharply raised India's growth forecast in its Economic Outlook Interim Report, September 2026, subtitled 'Weathering Successive Shocks'. India's GDP growth for FY 2026-27 was revised up by 80 basis points to 7.1%, from the 6.3% projected in the June 2026 edition, and is expected to moderate to 6.5% in FY 2027-28 after 7.8% in FY 2025-26. The OECD credited resilient domestic demand and government measures that cushioned households and firms from higher energy prices. Indian inflation is projected to average 4.7% in FY27 and 4.2% in FY28, while global GDP growth is pegged at 2.9% in 2026.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) September 2026: Navigating Prolonged Energy Shocks and El Nino, raising India's GDP growth forecast by 40 basis points to 7% for FY27 from 6.6%. ADB credited a stronger-than-expected Q1 FY27 (April-June 2026), robust investment, resilient consumption and solid manufacturing and services growth despite the West Asia crisis. FY28 growth was trimmed to 7.1% from 7.3% on the higher base. India's FY27 inflation projection was cut to 5% from 5.2%, with FY28 retained at 4%. Developing Asia and the Pacific is projected to grow 5% in CY26 and 5.1% in CY27.

Fitch Ratings raised India's GDP growth forecast for FY27 by 50 basis points to 6.9%, from 6.4%, in its Global Economic Outlook - September 2026. The upgrade reflects stronger-than-expected growth and resilient domestic demand and investment despite external and energy-price shocks. India's GDP grew 7.8% year-on-year in Q1 FY27, holding up through the terms-of-trade hit from the US-Iran conflict. Fitch expects momentum to ease in the second half on slower manufacturing and services expansion, weak monsoon rainfall and rising price pressure signalled by PMI trends. Headline inflation is seen climbing to 5.5% by December 2026, before moderating to 4.2% by end-2027 and 4% by end-2028.

S&P Global Ratings, in its report 'Economic Outlook Asia-Pacific Q4 2026: Exports, Domestic Demand Will Shore Up Growth', raised India's GDP growth forecast for FY27 to 7.0% from 6.6% — an upgrade of 40 basis points. The agency cited robust industrial activity, healthy consumption, strong goods exports and accelerating government investment. It expects growth to moderate in the second half of FY27 as the boost from GST rationalisation and income-tax cuts fades. Beyond FY27, S&P projects 7.2% in FY28, followed by 7.0% in FY29 and 6.8% in FY30. The upgrade follows a similar round of forecast revisions by other agencies tracking India this month.

Moody's raised India's GDP growth forecast to 7% for FY27, citing resilient domestic demand and investment momentum. India's GDP grew 7.8% in Q1 FY27 and 8.2% in the first half of calendar year 2026, against 7.3% growth in the comparable earlier period. Moody's projects inflation at 4.8% in FY27, sharply higher than 2.4% in FY26, driven by rising crude oil prices and a fading food-price base effect. The higher inflation path matters for the interest-rate cycle, since the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee targets 4% CPI inflation with a +/-2% band. The upgrade places India among the fastest-growing major economies even as global agencies flag trade-policy and commodity risks.

The National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released quarterly GDP estimates for Q1 (April-June) of FY27, placing real GDP growth at 7.8%, up from 6.9% in Q1 FY26. GDP at constant (2022-23) prices stood at Rs 81.36 lakh crore, while GDP at current prices reached Rs 88.27 lakh crore, a nominal growth of 10.3%. It is the first release on the revised National Accounts series with base year 2022-23. Real Gross Value Added grew 8.2%. On the back of the print, SBI Research raised its FY27 growth forecast from 6.6% to 7.3%.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) issued 'Standard on Sustainability Assurance (SSA) 5000 — General Requirements & Framework for Sustainability Assurance Engagements', a principle-based framework covering climate, labour practices and biodiversity. It aligns India with ISSA 5000 of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), with India-specific carve-outs for joint audits and forward-looking statements. SSA 5000 applies from 1 April 2027, when the existing SSAE 3000 and SAE 3410 stand withdrawn. ICAI expects the framework to standardise sustainability assurance across firms, strengthen stakeholder confidence in sustainability disclosures and help address greenwashing in corporate reporting.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued directions on 22 September 2026, effective immediately, altering valuation norms for units of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs). The directions apply to commercial banks, All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs), Small Finance Banks, Payments Banks and Local Area Banks, and are intended to remove ambiguity and ensure uniform valuation practice across institutions. Separately, India's REIT market has reached USD 17.7 billion, overtaking Hong Kong to become Asia's fourth largest, while RBI's special US dollar-rupee forex swap facility attracted USD 143.596 billion of foreign currency inflows by 18 September 2026.

Axis Bank ran the fourth edition of its flagship customer-obsession programme Sparsh Week 2026 from 7 to 11 September 2026, themed 'Act with Speed'. The bank targeted more than 2.5 lakh customer conversations across branches, segments, geographies and life stages, with employees and senior leaders meeting customers directly to turn feedback into faster service action. Sparsh Week has grown into one of the bank's largest customer-engagement and employee-mobilisation platforms. The push lands as private banks compete on service turnaround alongside a fast-digitising payments stack - the same week NPCI unveiled UPI Tap & Pay and the AI-powered 'My UPI' platform at Global Fintech Fest 2026.

The Ministry of Finance secured USD 1 billion from the International Finance Corporation to help Indian banks and financial institutions extend more long-term credit to small businesses. IFC has already provided USD 500 million to SIDBI from its own resources, with the remaining USD 500 million to be raised through SIDBI's lender syndicate; the facility has been swapped into rupees using the RBI's special swap window. Most of the money will be on-lent by SIDBI directly to MSMEs for up to seven years with a moratorium, funding machinery purchase, modernisation and expansion in auto components, engineering goods, electronics, textiles and food processing. It complements the existing ECLGS support.

On 7 September 2026 the Asian Development Bank signed its first Transaction Advisory Services (TAS) mandate in India with the Government of Madhya Pradesh, to develop renewable-energy public-private partnership projects and attract private investment of up to USD 1 billion. The agreement was signed at Bhopal by ADB India Country Director Mio Oka in the presence of Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav. Under the mandate ADB acts as transaction advisor, supporting project preparation, structuring, bankable tender development and private capital mobilisation. The first project in the pipeline is a solar generation facility integrated with a Battery Energy Storage System at Shajapur, feeding India's grid-stability and clean-energy investment goals.

The Reserve Bank of India included Vijayawada-based Coastal Local Area Bank Limited in the Second Schedule of the RBI Act, 1934, giving India's first Local Area Bank scheduled status. Coastal Bank now becomes the only scheduled bank headquartered in Andhra Pradesh. Scheduled status opens access to RBI liquidity facilities and money-market operations, strengthening its funding base for expansion. Importantly, Coastal remains classified as a Local Area Bank despite the Second Schedule inclusion - the two categories are not mutually exclusive. The Local Area Bank scheme itself dates to a 1996 RBI framework meant to mobilise rural savings and lend locally within a compact three-district area.

The Reserve Bank of India has approved Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to acquire up to 9.99% of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of ICICI Bank. ICICI Bank said it received the RBI approval letter on 4 September 2026; the approval is valid for one year and lapses if the acquisition is not completed within that window. LIC held 4.35% in the bank as of 30 June 2026, so the nod roughly doubles its permitted headroom. Under the RBI's directions on acquisition of shareholding in banks, prior approval of the central bank is mandatory for any acquisition taking a holding to 5% or more.

Axis Bank and travel fintech Scapia launched the co-branded 'Scapia Axis Bank Credit Card' aimed at digitally native Indian travellers. It is issued on both the Mastercard and RuPay networks and carries zero joining and annual fees, zero forex mark-up on international transactions and a Smart Forex feature for overseas spending. Cardholders get unlimited domestic airport lounge access on spending Rs 20,000 in the preceding month and a 1% fuel surcharge waiver. Rewards run at 10% on the Mastercard variant and 5% on the RuPay variant for eligible spends of Rs 500 or more, and 20% on bookings made through the Scapia app.

Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh is set to host Asia's first Telecom Manufacturing Zone (TMZ) with an estimated investment of Rs 5,500 crore. The dedicated zone will cluster telecom equipment makers, component suppliers and testing infrastructure in one location, cutting import dependence in a sector where India still sources a large share of network gear. It complements the PLI scheme for Telecom and Networking Products and the electronics-components push under Make in India, and follows MP's wider industrial outreach through the Global Investors Summit route. For Gwalior, it marks a shift from a largely services and tourism profile toward high-value electronics manufacturing.

At SEMICON India 2026 in New Delhi, Odisha announced an 870-acre 'Odisha Silicon Valley' at Naraj near Cuttack for semiconductor, electronics and IT industries. The site sits on the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar corridor beside the Mahanadi, giving fabs the water and power they need, with multimodal links to Paradip and Dhamra ports. The state drew investment proposals worth about Rs 23,600 crore with the potential to create 6,100 jobs, and offered an extra 25% fiscal support to India Semiconductor Mission-approved projects. A Letter of Intent was signed with QuadQuantum for silicon carbide substrate wafers, at the same SEMICON India edition where L&T Semiconductor unveiled its first silicon carbide chip platform.

JSW Group and Volkswagen Group, through Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Private Limited (SAVWIPL), signed a non-binding MoU in September 2026 for a proposed 51:49 joint venture in Volkswagen's Indian passenger vehicle business, with a binding agreement expected by December 2026. The JV will develop and produce passenger vehicles spanning EVs, hybrids and internal combustion engine models, combining JSW's investment capability and industrial presence with Volkswagen's platforms, technology and R&D. It is expected to use Volkswagen's existing Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Chakan plants in Maharashtra, with a combined capacity of about 4 lakh vehicles a year.

MC2+ Foundation, IIT Bombay and the Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE) signed a tripartite MoU in September 2026 to support energy-sector startups with research facilities, funding, mentorship and real-world pilots, with ONGC as the partner PSU. At the event Arun Kumar Singh, ONGC Chairman and CEO, announced a Rs 2,000 crore Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) for deep-tech energy startups. In the first phase up to 30 early-stage startups get up to Rs 50 lakh in convertible funding plus up to Rs 1.5 crore milestone-based - up to Rs 2 crore each. Focus areas include AI-driven subsurface intelligence, hydrogen, compressed biogas and refinery technologies.

ICICI Bank Limited acquired an additional 2% stake in ICICI Prudential Life Insurance for Rs 1,470 crore in September 2026 through the stock exchange mechanism, buying 2,90,15,693 equity shares across multiple tranches. The purchase raised the bank's holding from 50.84% to 52.8%. The transaction was necessitated by regulatory requirements: following UK-based Prudential's proposed 75% acquisition of Bharti Life Insurance, Prudential must cut its stake in ICICI Prudential Life to below 10%. ICICI Prudential Life, headquartered in Mumbai, is a joint venture between ICICI Bank and Prudential Corporation Holdings Limited; it began operations in December 2000 and is chaired by Sandeep Batra.

India's Ministry of Power directed more than 100 captive coal-fired power plants to maximise generation from 1 October to 31 December 2026, in a directive issued on 25 September 2026 to secure supply through the post-monsoon demand period. Captive plants are units owned by industrial users - steel, aluminium, cement and fertiliser producers - primarily for their own consumption, so pushing them to run harder frees grid coal and eases pressure on merchant power prices. The order sits alongside the government's parallel bet on low-carbon fuels, including the Rs 2,300 crore port-based e-methanol plant at Kandla.

Paradip Port in Odisha was designated a Mega Port on 25 September 2026 under Section 73 of the Indian Ports Act, 2025, by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways after an assessment of structural and operational benchmarks. It is the only east-coast port with the status; the other three are Deendayal (Kandla), Mundra in Gujarat and Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Nhava Sheva. Paradip handled a record 156.45 million tonnes of cargo in FY 2025-26, up 4.02% year-on-year, moving coal, iron ore, fertilisers and crude oil for eastern and central India. Susanta Kumar Purohit chairs the Paradip Port Authority.

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) signed an MoU with National Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries Park–Andhra Pradesh (NSHIP-AP) to develop a Rs 15,000 crore greenfield shipyard at Dugarajapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It was signed by MDL CMD Captain Jagmohan (Retd.) and NSHIP-AP MD Praveen Adhithya C.V. in the presence of AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. The Dugarajapatnam Shipbuilding-cum-Port Cluster is being developed under the Shipbuilding Development Scheme (SbDS) with an initial capacity of 1.2 million gross tonnes per annum, building tankers, bulk carriers, container ships and LNG carriers. The shipyard is estimated at Rs 29,254 crore and the associated port at Rs 9,513 crore.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) approved an investment of Rs 2,448.70 crore for the Kochi-Kanyakumari-Thoothukudi Natural Gas Pipeline on 21 September 2026. The pipeline will run 424.65 km, extending the existing Kochi-Kanyakumari trunk line into Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu and deepening gas access across southern Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It supports India's target of raising the share of natural gas in the primary energy mix to about 15% by 2030, from roughly 6% now, and feeds city gas distribution, fertiliser and industrial demand in the south. The project strengthens the National Gas Grid, which is regulated by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).

India fixed a foodgrain production target of 373.93 million tonnes for the 2026-27 crop year on 29 September 2026, announced by Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The target is lower than the record 376.56 million tonnes output of 2025-26, reflecting El Nino conditions, uneven monsoon rainfall and drought-like conditions in some States. The rabi foodgrain target is 177.72 million tonnes. Kharif acreage as of 18 September 2026 stood at 110.39 million hectares, about 1.5 million hectares lower year-on-year; rice area fell 3.7% to 42.9 million hectares while pulses area rose 1.4% to 11.9 million hectares.

NABARD signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to integrate agro-meteorological data into the Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture (DiCRA) platform, an open-source digital platform supported by NABARD and the UNDP. IMD will supply weather forecasts, advisories, in-situ observations and alerts through a dedicated Weather Portal inside DiCRA, delivered via web portals, mobile interfaces and APIs for last-mile access. The MoU was signed by Sanjeev D. Rohilla (NABARD) and Bikram Singh (IMD) in the presence of NABARD Chairman Shaji K.V. and IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra. It aims to sharpen climate risk assessment, crop decision-making and rural financing.

The Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) upgraded India's Long-Term Foreign Currency and Local Currency Issuer Ratings by one notch from 'BBB+' to 'A-', retaining a Stable Outlook, and also raised India's country ceiling by one notch to 'A'. JCR cited India's solid economic growth, the effectiveness of economic policies in strengthening growth foundations, and improved soundness of the financial system. The upgrade continues a run of positive sovereign actions on India and sits alongside the record foreign exchange reserves of $740.803 billion reported for the week ended 28 August 2026, both pointing to strengthening external buffers and investor confidence.