Recent 6 months news in Economy

The government has designated cotton as "White Gold" due to its pivotal role in supporting the livelihoods of farmers and stakeholders across the textile value chain.

India ranks 1st globally in cotton cultivation area, covering 114.84 lakh hectares (ha) or 38% of the world's total cotton area, and holds the 2nd position in both cotton production and consumption.

According to the Ministry of Textiles (MoT), India's cotton production is provisionally projected at 290.91 lakh bales or 4.95 MT for the 2025-26 period. India's total cotton exports were valued at $11.49 billion in FY25. It is to be noted that the USA is the largest destination for India's cotton fabrics and made-up exports, accounting for 26.35% of the total shipments.

According to a report by ICRA Ltd, India's real GDP growth for the first quarter (Q1) of FY27 is projected at 6.4-6.6%.

The Office of Economic Adviser (OEA) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has released a revised series of the Index of Core Industries (ICI), transitioning the base year from 2011-12 to 2022-23.

The revised ICI series now incorporates 'iron ore' as a core industry, increasing the total count of core industries from eight to nine. The other 8 core industries are coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, and electricity.

The Government of India has revised the Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on the export of diesel, Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), and petrol, effective from 16 July 2026.

The SAED on diesel exports has been increased to ₹15.5 per litre from ₹8.5 per litre, and on ATF exports to ₹14.5 per litre from ₹7.5 per litre. Meanwhile, the export duty on petrol has been reduced to ₹2.5 per litre from ₹4 per litre.

According to provisional data released by the RBI, India's outward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) declined by 47.9% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to $3 billion in June 2026, compared to $5.74 billion in June 2025.

The decline was observed across all three components of outward FDI commitments: equity, debt, and guarantees. In June 2026, equity commitments stood at $738 million, debt at $469.87 million, and guarantees at $1.78 billion. The largest FDI equity commitments were recorded by ONGC Videsh Rovuma Ltd (OVRL), followed by Lenskart and GFCL EV products.

The NITI Aayog has launched the "Roadmap for Building India as a Leading Bioeconomy Powerhouse by 2035" at the National Media Centre in New Delhi.

The roadmap aims to scale the bioeconomy of India to $691 billion by 2035 and $2.6 trillion by 2047. To achieve these objectives, it recommends the creation of six National BioMissions: GeneIndia, AgriBio 2.0, BioX Foundry, One Health Grid, Marine Biotechnology, and BioPharmaNext.

It also proposes the establishment of a ₹50,000 crore "BioEconomy Growth Fund" for the 2026-2035 period, to be allocated from the existing ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) framework. The roadmap was inaugurated by Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh and was developed by the NITI Frontier Tech Hub (NITI-FTH) in consultation with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).

According to the trade data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoC&I) for the first quarter (Q1) of FY27, India's total exports were valued at $232.73 billion, while total imports were estimated at $270.15 billion.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has launched India's first trial Index of Services Production (ISP) for April 2026. This high-frequency monthly indicator serves as the services-sector counterpart to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

The trial series uses 2024-25 as the base year and is structured according to the National Industrial Classification (NIC), 2025. The ISP covers 19 service sub-sectors, with updates scheduled to be released on the 29th of every month.

According to the 'World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update - July 2026' report titled 'Global Economy in Crosscurrents of War and Technology' released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India's GDP growth is revised to 6.4% for FY27 from the 6.5%.

For FY28, the report has revised India's growth projection to 6.7% from the earlier estimate of 6.5%. The report also noted that India's GDP recorded a growth of 7.7% during FY26.

The World Bank has approved a financing package of $890 million for India's rooftop solar programme.

This financing is intended to support the implementation of the “PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana”, which aims to install rooftop solar systems in 10 million rural and urban households across India. Additionally, the World Bank will facilitate the mobilization of $4.2 billion in private financing through commercial loans to support households in installing these systems.

According to a report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), India's GDP growth forecast for FY27 has been revised to 6.6% from the earlier 6.9%. The growth projection for FY28 is maintained at 7.3%.

The ADB has also raised the inflation forecast for FY27 to 5.2% from 4.5%, while the projection for FY28 is maintained at 4%.

The government has increased the procurement price of onions for the Price Stabilisation Buffer by 13%, raising it from ₹1,875 per quintal to ₹2,125 per quintal, effective from July 4, 2026.

According to the Second Advance Estimates of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare for 2025-26, the production of onions is estimated at 307.37 lakh metric tonnes (LMT).

The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) under the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has kept the interest rates for all Small Savings Schemes (SSS) unchanged for the second quarter (Q2) of FY27. This marks the ninth consecutive quarter without a revision. The interest rates were last revised in December 2024.

Since 2016, the MoF has been reviewing SSS interest rates on a quarterly basis. The methodology for determining these rates was formulated by the Shyamala Gopinath Committee in 2023, under which SSS interest rates are maintained at 25 to 100 basis points (bps) higher than the prevailing government bond yields.

The Union Cabinet has approved an additional investment of ₹30,000 crore in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), doubling the total capital commitment of the Government of India (GoI) to ₹60,000 crore.

NIIF operates as a public-private entity, with the GoI holding a 49% equity stake, while the remaining 51% is owned by domestic and global institutional investors. It is to be noted that the NIIF attracts investments from sovereign and pension funds based in the US, Japan, the UAE, Singapore, Canada, and Australia.

According to the report titled "India: Improved Macro Outlook after the United States of America (USA)-Iran Deal" released by Goldman Sachs, India's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for Calendar Year 2026 (CY26) has been raised to 6.8%. The growth forecast for FY27 is increased to 6.5%.

The report also lowered India's retail inflation projection for the current year to 4.4% and reduced the Current Account Deficit (CAD) projection by 20 basis points (bps) to 1.1% of GDP.

The World Bank has approved $1.5 billion (₹14,300 crore) in financing to support India's structural reforms aimed at accelerating private sector-led job creation.

This funding is provided under the 'Boosting Job Creation in the Private Sector Development Policy Financing (DPF) Operation'. The initiative aims to generate quality employment opportunities for the 11 million young individuals who enter the Indian workforce annually.

BSE Index Services Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), has launched India's first Saatvik Index named "BSE Saatvik 100".

The index is designed to promote ethical-based investing and is derived from the constituents of the BSE 500 Index. The index has a base value of 1,000 with an initial value date of June 20, 2005. It will be reconstituted every 6 months of a year.

According to the "Economic Outlook Asia-Pacific Q3 2026" report released by S&P Global Ratings (S&P), the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast of India for FY27 is revised to 6.6%. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation of India is projected to rise to 5.1%.

According to the “Global Economic Prospects” (GEP) report released by the World Bank (WB) in June 2026, the economic growth projection of India for FY27 has been raised to 6.6%, a 10 basis points (bps) increase from the previous forecast of 6.5%.

The GDP of India is projected to grow by 6.6% in FY27, moderating from an estimated 7.7% in FY26, and is expected to accelerate to 7.2% in FY28.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has released the Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation data, with 2022-23 as the revised base year.

Wholesale price inflation in India rose to 9.68% in May 2026, from 8.26% in April 2026. Sector-wise, fuel and power inflation stood at 30.33%, with crude petroleum inflation at 61.51%. Food inflation was recorded at 3.60%, while manufactured products saw an inflation rate of 7.48%. Retail inflation was reported at 3.93%.