News on Indian Economy
Sri Lanka’s overall export earnings for the January–March 2026 period stood at US$4.30 billion, registering a 1.59% year-on-year increase. Merchandise exports during the quarter reached US$3.38 billion, while services exports were estimated at US$921.11 million, supported by sectors such as ICT/BPM, construction, financial services, transport and logistics.
AWS has also lined up a major investment pipeline for India. In 2023, the company announced plans to invest ₹1,05,600 crore, or about US$12.7 billion, into cloud infrastructure in India by 2030.
The crop had initially been expected to touch a record level, with the Agriculture Ministry earlier estimating wheat output at 120.21 million tonnes, up from 117.94 million tonnes in the previous year. However, unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms in key wheat-growing regions have raised concerns over yield loss and grain quality.
The meeting was co-chaired by Amit A. Shukla, Joint Secretary for Cyber Diplomacy in India’s Ministry of External Affairs, and Hanada Takahiro, Deputy Assistant Minister for Cyber Security in Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Officials from ministries, departments and agencies of both governments participated, along with representatives from the AI industry, giving the dialogue both a policy and industry-driven character.
The scheme is designed to support Indian participation in key international telecom forums such as the International Telecommunication Union, 3GPP and oneM2M, giving domestic stakeholders financial assistance for attending global meetings, submitting technical contributions, taking up leadership roles in study groups and hosting international standardisation events in India.
A striking feature of the quarter was the dominance of domestic investors, who accounted for about 96% of total inflows
He said India is already among the world’s top three domestic aviation markets and continues to grow at a rapid pace. Passenger traffic reached around 412 million in 2025, reflecting strong momentum in domestic air travel, while the wider sector is being backed by more than 1,000 aircraft orders, signalling confidence in long-term demand.
The official note said India is now the world’s 10th largest insurance market by premium volume. During FY 2024-25, the sector issued 41.84 crore policies, collected premiums worth ₹11.93 lakh crore, paid claims of ₹8.36 lakh crore and reported assets under management of ₹74.44 lakh crore. Insurance penetration stood at 3.7%, while insurance density rose to USD 97 per person.
Operationally, the picture was more mixed. Net sales of these FDI companies grew 8.7% in 2024-25, lower than 9.4% in the previous year. The moderation was sharper in manufacturing, where sales growth eased to 5.1% from 6.8%, while the services sector performed better, with growth inching up to 12.7%.
The export surge was supported by the rapid scale-up of production in India by global technology majors such as Apple and Samsung, alongside broader efforts to position the country as an export-oriented manufacturing hub.
