Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has urged India’s medtech startups to look beyond domestic markets and leverage the country’s expanding network of trade agreements, noting that India now enjoys market access to nearly 70 per cent of global GDP. Speaking at the Pfizer INDovation Startup Showcase Programme in the national capital, the minister highlighted the growing global opportunities for Indian innovators in the medical technology space. He emphasised that affordable, scalable, and innovative healthcare solutions developed in India have the potential to address chal
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday described the trade deal with India as “historic”, announcing that the United States will significantly ramp up coal exports to India and other partner nations. Speaking at an event titled ‘Champion of Coal’, Trump said the US is emerging as a major global energy exporter under his leadership. “And under our leadership, we're becoming a massive energy exporter. In just the past few months, we've made historic trade deals with Japan, Korea, India, and others to increase our coal exports dramatically,” Trump said. He further claimed that Ame
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic, signalling a renewed push to deepen the British engineering major’s footprint in India. The discussions focused on expanding partnerships across engineering, manufacturing, and innovation, in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of Viksit Bharat. Sharing visuals from the meeting on X, PM Modi said, “It was wonderful meeting Tufan Erginbilgic, CEO of Rolls-Royce, earlier today. We welcome Rolls-Royce’s enthusiasm towards scaling up its activities in India and partnering with our innovative and dynamic yout
The first tranche of the proposed India–US bilateral trade agreement is nearly ready, and a joint statement announcing the deal is expected within the next four to five days, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. Speaking to the media after the signing of the Terms of Reference with the Gulf Cooperation Council, Goyal said the formal agreement is likely to be signed around mid-March, following the joint announcement. He added that the new reciprocal tariff of 18 per cent would be implemented through an executive order to be issued by the United States aft
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India has emerged as a reliable and trusted global partner as the world moves toward a new international order. Replying to the debate in the Rajya Sabha on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, he noted that major economies are keen to strengthen trade ties with India, reflecting growing global confidence in the country. Modi said India is signing future-ready trade agreements focused on long-term growth, including recent deals with nine major nations, among them the European Union comprising 27 countries. These agreements, h
The World Bank has approved an $830 million loan to support the revamp of India’s network of skills training institutes, aiming to strengthen workforce readiness and improve employability among youth. Jobs remain central to India’s growth trajectory, competitiveness, and its ambition of becoming Viksit Bharat. However, India’s youth account for nearly 72 per cent of the unemployed, and a persistent skills mismatch between training and industry requirements continues to limit productivity, firm growth, and earnings. While Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) play a crucial role in sk
Japanese investment applications in Thailand surged 146% in 2025 to exceed 119 billion baht, signalling growing optimism among Japanese businesses about Thailand’s economic rebound in the first half of 2026. The strong momentum reflects renewed confidence in the country as a key production and investment hub in Southeast Asia. In 2025, Japanese companies filed 311 investment projects in Thailand, a 17% year-on-year increase. Major investments were led by the automotive and auto parts sector, which attracted 28.3 billion baht, driven by expansion into hybrid electric vehicles. Electronics
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026, told NDA MPs that the biggest event of the century was India’s emergence at the centre of the global stage and its growing role in shaping the world order. Addressing a closed door parliamentary party meeting, Modi said India had demonstrated leadership during global uncertainty, including the Covid-19 pandemic and recent geopolitical upheavals. Referring to the recently concluded trade agreements with the US and the European Union, Modi said these deals reflected how the world was increasingly tilting towards India. He said th
President Donald Trump announced that the US would roll back punitive tariffs on Indian goods in exchange for India agreeing to halt purchases of Russian oil, easing months of trade tensions between the two countries. Following a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump said tariffs on Indian exports would be reduced to 18% from 25%, and an additional 25% duty linked to India’s Russian oil imports would be removed. Trump claimed India would eliminate its tariff and non-tariff barriers against the US and commit to buying over $500 billion worth of American energy, technology, a
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday held a breakfast meeting at the National Stock Exchange with its Managing Director and CEO Ashish Chauhan to discuss the overall impact and opportunities emerging from the Union Budget 2026. The breakout session was attended by investors and representatives from mutual funds and the asset management industry. In a post on social media platform X, Goyal said he was encouraged by the optimism expressed by market participants and their enthusiasm about the growth prospects outlined in the Budget. Addressing the gathering, the Mini