Kautilya

The rise was led mainly by an increase in foreign currency assets, the largest component of India’s reserves. Foreign currency assets rose by $1.481 billion to $557.463 billion during the week. These assets include the effect of movements in non-dollar currencies such as the euro, pound and yen when expressed in dollar terms.

The Finance Minister urged SEBI to help drive common KYC norms and support the simplification and digitalisation of KYC processes across the Indian securities market. She said SEBI has the scale of investor participation, digital infrastructure and institutional credibility to take a lead role in this area. The larger objective is to create a more seamless, secure and portable KYC experience across the financial sector, reducing inconvenience for citizens while maintaining regulatory safeguards.

The Small Industries Development Bank of India will serve as the initial implementation agency for the scheme. SIDBI will manage the process of AIF selection, screening, due diligence and monitoring. DPIIT will also bring in an additional implementation agency to widen the scheme’s reach, improve sectoral expertise and strengthen institutional capacity for managing such large-scale startup financing programmes.