The Union Cabinet has approved the signing of an MoU between the Permanent Mission of India to the WTO (PMI), Centre for Trade and Investment Law (CTIL) of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, and Centre for Trade and Economic Integration (CTEI) within The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. The MoU will provide valuable academic and research opportunities to the employees of CTIL and the Department of Commerce in the field of international trade and investment law.

“Start-up Accelerators of MeitY for Product Innovation, Development and growth (SAMRIDH)” programme, was launched by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology so as to create a conducive platform to Indian Software Product star-ups to enhance their   products and securing investments  for  scaling  their  business. The programme is being implemented by MeitY Start-up Hub (MSH).

Prime Minister launched the Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Program (VVMP), also known as the Vehicle Scrapping Policy. The vehicle scrappage policy will bring in investments of around INR 10,000 crore (€1.2 billion) to set up 450-500 Automated Testing Stations (ATS) and 60-70 Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSF) across the country. A single window clearance portal is being developed where the applications for ATS and RVSF will be catered through a single portal within 60 days. A vehicle will be declared as End-of-Life or unfit if it fails the automated fitness test, the allowed retest and reinspection test if ordered by the appellate authorities.

According to a recent report, India’s electric vehicle financing industry is projected to be worth Rs 3.7 lakh crore (€43.5 billion) in 2030, which would be about 80% of the current retail vehicle finance industry. The government is planning to set up an institution to fund businesses with a focus on electric vehicles as well as facilitate new financial instruments for lending to the public transportation and commercial vehicle segment, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said. Gadkari also said the government is planning to bring incentives for construction equipment vehicles to encourage them to become electric ones.

The Covid-19 pandemic and its damage to the Indian economy did not deter the discerning investors from lapping up opportunities in the electric vehicle and e-mobility sector. Many financial deals and the funds involved vindicate this fact. Collective investment done by e2W, e4W, EV component makers, electric commercial vehicles, and last-mile delivery companies was recorded at INR 25,045.31 crores (€2.9 billion) during January-July 2021. Electric commercial vehicles led the investments with a 32% share. Electric 4W saw an investment of 28% where M&M invested INR 3000 crore (€0.35 billion) making its contribution at 12%. It has already invested INR 1,700 crore (€0.2 billion) in India's EV business, with another INR 500 crore earmarked for a new research and development (R&D) centre

Top trade and technology bodies from the US and UK have told the Indian government to adopt the 5G standards that have been recommended by the 3GPP. India is currently in confusion about which 5G standard it should go with - 5Gi developed by Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI) or the 3GPP developed 5G standard. The top international trade bodies have urged the Indian government to go ahead with 3GPP standards which will give a much-needed push to electronic manufacturing in India as companies will be encouraged to set up their operations in India.  “By using globally harmonized standards such as those from 3GPP, companies can set up manufacturing operations in India with the confidence that they can easily serve both the Indian market and export to global markets,” the bodies said in a joint submission letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecommunications Engineering Centre (TEC). 

India is nowhere close to launching 5G services but has already become the 4th largest market for smartphones supporting the next gen technology in terms of shipments, say market research firms. As per IDC, India trailed China, USA, and Japan in terms of 5G smartphone shipments at the lowest average selling price at $410. IDC expects India to reach around 40 million 5G smartphone shipments, which is around 24% of the total, by end of 2021, up from around 3.5 million in 2020. Research expects around 32 million 5G smartphones.

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India and the UK have launched a new workstream to promote industrial energy efficiency, under the Clean Energy Ministerial's (CEM) Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative (IDDI), the power ministry said in a statement. This year, India, along with the Government of the United Kingdom, launched a new workstream to promote industrial energy efficiency under the CEM's IDDI coordinated by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The IDDI initiative has been supported by Germany and Canada, with more countries expected to join soon. The objective is to infuse green technologies and stimulate demand for low-carbon industrial material. The commitment hinges on effective deployment of low carbon technologies in energy-intensive sectors like iron and steel, cement, petrochemicals. He elaborated that government policies have resulted in substantial savings in energy on the demand side.