News on Indian Economy
The transition is designed to make toll payments faster and more efficient while cutting dependence on cash transactions. By shifting entirely to digital payments, the government is seeking to strengthen accountability in toll collection and improve the overall experience for highway users.
The investment response has been especially notable. Total investment under the scheme has already crossed Rs. 9,000 crore, significantly above the earlier commitment level of about Rs. 7,000 crore. That gap points to stronger-than-expected industry participation and faster capital deployment, indicating that companies see long-term potential in India’s processed food segment.
India produces nearly 7.8 million metric tonnes of post-consumer textile waste every year, spanning everything from sarees and uniforms to denim and household linen. Against that backdrop, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has set up what PIB describes as India’s first municipal Textile Recovery Facility in Belapur, positioning textile waste as a recoverable resource rather than an overlooked urban burden.
In the first phase, NHAI has prepared an action plan covering 17 land parcels spread across 62.8 hectares, where around 67,462 medicinal trees will be planted. The sites are located along highway projects in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi-NCR, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh.
The latest figures also show that women-led MSEs received contracts worth more than ₹28,000 crore in FY 2025–26, marking 27.6% growth over the previous year. Their share reached 5.6% of GeM’s total order value, comfortably above the mandated 3% public procurement target for women-owned and women-led enterprises.
An e-way bill is the electronic permit required under GST before transporting consignments valued at more than ₹50,000. Under CBIC rules, the registered supplier, recipient, or transporter must generate it on the common portal before movement begins, after which a unique e-way bill number is issued and can be checked in transit.
The proposed approach goes beyond simple extraction. It includes expanding exploration for lithium resources within India, securing overseas supply arrangements, and building up refining capacity through both public- and private-sector participation. In effect, the government is trying to move India higher up the value chain instead of remaining dependent on imported processed materials.
Since its launch, the Vande Bharat network has carried more than 9.1 crore passengers through about 1 lakh trips, showing how quickly the service has moved from flagship experiment to a widely accepted part of India’s railway system. First introduced on the New Delhi–Varanasi route in February 2019, the train has since become a major symbol of indigenous rail modernisation under the Make in India push.
To reduce that lag, RBI has asked banks to reconcile and confirm credits in nostro accounts much more frequently, either on a near real-time basis or at periodic intervals. The regulator said the reconciliation interval should normally not exceed one hour, marking a clear move toward more time-sensitive processing of international inward payments.
The shift to composite sleepers marks an important upgrade in track infrastructure. According to the Ministry of Railways, these sleepers are lighter than the iron and concrete variants currently used, yet they are designed to carry higher loads, offer better cushioning and allow easier laying and repair. The ministry also said the sleepers can be tailored to local site conditions, which is expected to improve passenger comfort, especially on bridge approaches and turnout sections where ride quality can otherwise be affected.
