Indian space startups have received $430 million in investment till March this year, said Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh, in the Parliament, citing the success of opening up the space industry to the private sector.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Singh shared how private sector industries are participating in the space sector.

“The government has implemented the space sector reforms and the private sector is being encouraged to take up not only commercial but also scientific development activities,” Singh said.

“Till March 2025, cumulatively, a total of $430 million investment has happened in Indian Space startups,” he added.

To promote the participation of private entities in the space sector, the government had in June 2020 established the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) as an autonomous agency under the Department of Space (DoS) in India.

RBI is expected to cut 25 bps in repo rates in light of soft inflation and global uncertainties, aiming to reinforce growth momentum while it has a policy window, a report said on Saturday

We expect the RBI to continue frontloading with a 25 basis point cut at its August MPC meeting. Tariff uncertainty, better GDP growth and CPI numbers in FY27 are all frontloaded, SBI Research said in a report. A frontloaded rate cut in August could bring an "early Diwali" by boosting credit growth, especially as the festive season in FY26 is also frontloaded, it said.

According to the report empirical evidence suggests a strong pick up in credit growth whenever the festive season has been early and has been preceded with a rate cut.

The report suggested that policymakers at central banks should avoid missing the window for effective intervention by acting too late, saying, "No point in backloading or committing a type II error."

Lauding ties between India and Russia, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday stated that the two nations have a "steady and time-tested partnership."

While addressing a weekly media briefing in New Delhi, Jaiswal noted that India's ties with any nation stands on their own merit and should not be seen through the prism of a third nation.

India sources its oil purchases based on global market offerings to meet its energy needs, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday.

In response to a question, he also said that India-Russia bilateral relations are on a strong footing.

India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose to Rs 1.96 lakh crore in July, up 7.5 per cent from the same month previous year, according to government data released on Friday.

The increase was driven by higher revenue from both domestic transactions and imports, reflecting steady economic activity, though the growth pace was slower than in recent months.

Between April and July this year, gross GST revenue stood at Rs 8.18 lakh crore -- marking a 10.7 per cent jump from Rs 7.39 lakh crore in the same period of 2024.

In July, the total gross GST collection comprised Rs 35,470 crore from Central GST, Rs 44,059 crore from State GST, Rs 1,03,536 crore from Integrated GST (including Rs 51,626 crore from imports), and Rs 12,670 crore from cess (including Rs 1,086 crore from imports).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is projected to keep repo rates unchanged in the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on August 6, a report said on Friday.

Amid global market uncertainties and tariff concerns, India's GDP is projected to be 7 per cent in the upcoming three quarters, higher than current estimates, according to the report from HSBC Global Investment Research.

The Indian stock market settled in negative territory on Friday after US President Donald Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on imports from the country.

Sensex settled at 80,599.91, down 585.67 points or 0.72 per cent. The 30-share index started the session in negative territory at 81,074.41 against last session's closing of 81.185.58, following the tariff threat by US. The index further extended the falling momentum amid overall selling pressure-especially in Pharma and IT sector. The index touched intra-day low at 80,495.57.

India does not make trade deals under any pressure or deadlines, and there is no chance to compromise on farmers, dairy and agriculture interests, government officials here said on Friday.

According to officials familiar with the subject, the 25 per cent tariff hike imposed by US President Donald Trump from August 1 is not at all alarming for the Indian markets.

“There is absolutely no chance of compromising on farmers, dairy and MSMEs, and no chance of allowing import of genetically-modified crops either,’ said officials, adding that "lower tariffs on Pakistan and Bangladesh will have no impact on us".

India's sugar production is projected to rise 18 per cent to 34.90 million tonnes in the 2025-26 season starting in October, according to a forecast released by the Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA).

The increased production will take Indian sugar exports to 2 million tonnes between October 2025 and September 2026.

In the current 2024-25 season (October-September), ISMA estimated sugar production at 26.10 million tonnes. "The sugar production is estimated to be higher at 34.90 million tonnes with upward bias," said ISMA President Gautam Goel.

About 5 million tonnes of sugar can be diverted next season for ethanol production compared with 3.5 million tonnes in the current season, he added.