The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) marked a significant milestone in strengthening India’s maritime security with the launch of two advanced Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs) ICG Ship Ajit and ICGS Aparajit at Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) on October 24, 2025. These vessels are the seventh and eighth in a series of eight indigenously built FPVs being constructed by GSL for the ICG.
Designed and built entirely by GSL, the FPVs reflect the growing strength of India’s indigenous shipbuilding capabilities. Measuring 52 metres in length and displacing 320 tonnes, these vessels are equipped with Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPP) the first of their kind in this class in India, offering superior manoeuvrability and propulsion efficiency.
They are capable of multi-mission roles including fisheries protection, coastal patrol, anti-smuggling, anti-piracy and search & rescue operations, particularly around India’s island territories and Exclusive Economic Zone.
‘Mahe’, the first of eight Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts (ASW SWC) being built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi, was delivered to Indian Navy on 23 Oct 2025. ‘Mahe’, named after the historic port town in the Union Territory of Puducherry, symbolises India's rich maritime heritage.
The vessel has been indigenously designed and constructed by CSL, reflecting India's growing self-reliance in Naval Shipbuilding. It is equipped for underwater surveillance, Low Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) operations in coastal waters and has advanced Mine Laying capability.
At approximately 78 metres, with a displacement of around 1,100 tons, the ship packs a punch in underwater warfare, with torpedoes, Multifunctional Anti-Submarine Rockets, and advanced radars and sonars. The delivery of ‘Mahe’, with over 80% indigenous content, marks yet another milestone and reaffirms the Government of India's vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
The Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, has announced that the Bharat International Rice Conference (BIRC) 2025 will be held at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, on 30th – 31st October 2025. India is one of the world’s largest producer and exporter of rice, supplying to over 172 countries.
Organised by the Indian Rice Exporters’ Federation (IREF), a national-level body representing over 7,500 exporters and allied stakeholders across India, in collaboration with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)—a Statutory Authority under the APEDA Act, 1985, mandated with promoting exports of nearly 800 agri products.
India produced around 150 million tonnes of rice in 2024-25 from nearly 47 million hectares, accounting for about 28 percent of global output. Average yields have improved from 2.72 tonnes per hectare in 2014-15 to about 3.2 tonnes per hectare in 2024-25, driven by improved seed varieties, better agronomic practices, and expanded irrigation coverage.
Australia will send its 1st ever First Nations business mission to India to strengthen trade and investment links between Indigenous Australian enterprises and India’s mining and renewable energy sectors. Under the mission, a delegation including eight Mining Equipment, Technology and Services companies, all of which are Australian First Nations-owned, will visit India.
Australian First Nations are Aboriginal people who represent one of the oldest continuous civilisations on Earth. They were Australia’s 1st diplomats, traders, innovators, and knowledge holders. The businesses will explore partnership opportunities and showcase their expertise at India’s largest mining conference, the International Mining, Equipment and Minerals Exhibition.
The mission, led by the Perth USAsia Centre and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia on behalf of the Australian government, will take place from October 26 to November 3, 2025, across Mumbai (October 26-28), New Delhi (October 28-30), and Kolkata (October 30-November 2).
In a move aimed at giving central government employees greater flexibility in retirement planning, the government has approved the extension of LC (Life Cycle) 75 and BLC (Balanced Life Cycle) investment options under both the National Pension System (NPS) and the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS).
The move is expected to offer employees more choice and control over their retirement savings. The glide path mechanism ensures that equity exposure gradually reduces with age - 15 per cent for LC-75 and 35 per cent for BLC by age 55 - protecting investors from market volatility as they approach retirement.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) allowed the transfer of Portfolio Management Services (PMS) business by one portfolio manager to another, after seeking prior approval from the regulator. If the transferor and the transferee portfolio managers belong to different groups, they will have to make a joint application to Sebi for approval.
Unified Payments Interface continued to drive India’s digital payments ecosystem in the first half (H1) of 2025, accounting for 85 per cent of total payment volumes, according to data from the Payment System Report released on Thursday by the Reserve Bank of India. In terms of value, UPI contributed just 9 per cent, reflecting its dominance in small-ticket transactions.
The volume of UPI transactions surged from 10.79 billion in calendar year (CY) 2019 to 172.21 billion in CY2024. The total value of these transactions rose from ₹18.4 trillion in CY2019 to ₹246.8 trillion in CY2024. In the H1CY2025, UPI transactions totalled 106.37 billion, amounting to ₹143.3 trillion.
Meanwhile, the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system, mainly used for high-value transfers, accounted for the largest share of transaction value at 69 per cent but represented only 0.1 per cent of overall volumes. With a minimum transaction threshold of Rs. 2 lakh, RTGS remains the preferred mode for wholesale payments.
RTGS transactions recorded a compounded annual growth rate of 13.7 per cent in volume and 13.78 per cent in value between 2020-21 and 2024-25, according to RBI data. By CY2024, transactions conducted outside business hours (18:00–08:00) accounted for 19 per cent of the total volume and 16 per cent of the total value.
Roughly 75 per cent of customer RTGS transactions fall within the Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh range, indicating relatively lower ticket sizes. In contrast, interbank transactions are generally larger, with over half valued between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 2.5 crore.
Investors in the Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2017-18 Series-IV are set for substantial gains, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the final redemption price and date for the eight-year gold-linked government securities.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed to make the use of a unique transaction identifier (UTI) mandatory for all over-the-counter derivative transactions by market participants, effective April 1, 2026. Each UTI will be up to 52 characters long, comprising the legal entity identifier of the generating entity followed by a unique identifier.
According to the draft circular released by the RBI, the UTI for OTC derivative transactions will be generated in line with the UTI Technical Guidance issued by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) in February 2017.
The UTI will apply to all transactions in the OTC markets for rupee interest rate derivatives, forward contracts in government securities, foreign currency derivatives, foreign currency interest rate derivatives, and credit derivatives in India, according to the RBI’s draft circular on UTIs for OTC derivative transactions.
RBI stated that the UTI generating entity will be determined using a “waterfall table”, where the responsibility for UTI generation is assigned to the next entity in the waterfall if the identified entity is unable or unwilling to generate the UTI.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that India will continue to be one of the fastest-growing ’emerging market and developing economies’ in 2025-26, growing at a rate of 6.6%, according to the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report.
India is set to outpace China, which is expected to grow at 4.8%. The IMF released its revised projections following the effects of US tariffs across various economies and the subsequent deals made between countries amid growing uncertainty. However, the IMF has lowered its 2026 projection to 6.2%, citing a potential fading of first-quarter momentum.
With the effects of tariffs lower than expected, the IMF projects global growth at 3.2% in 2025, while slowing to 3.1% in the following year. Despite India’s rapid growth, the IMF predicts global growth will slow from 3.3% in 2024 to 3.2% in 2026. Earlier in October, the IMF announced its revisions to forecasts, projecting an upward growth to 6.6%.
A hackathon is an event organised to bring together people and entities for the development of innovative solutions for the existing challenges in specified areas through identified problem statements. HaRBInger 2025 is centred around the theme “Secure Banking: Powered by Identity, Integrity, and Inclusivity”.
