| | SEPTEMBER 20268Union Minister of Com-merce and Industry Piyush Goyal said India's exports under free trade agree-ments (FTAs) are growing faster than imports, reflecting better utilization of trade pacts. Between April and July, exports to FTA partner nations rose 23.9 percent to $57.2 billion, compared with 13.9 percent growth in non-FTA markets. Their share of India's exports increased from 31.1 percent to 32.9 percent, while the trade deficit with FTA partners narrowed from $34.2 billion to $32.6 billion. Exports to Singapore nearly doubled, adding about $4 billion, while trade with Oman increased $0.6 billion after the Comprehen-sive Economic Partnership Agree-ment took effect on June 1, 2026. Goyal said exporters are in-creasingly overcoming structural hurdles and leveraging preferential market access offered by FTAs. PhonePe Founder and CEO Sameer Nigam unveiled the company's vision for the next decade at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026, highlighting innova-tions aimed at making digital finance accessible to individu-als, families, and businesses. He discussed UPI Circle, which enables account holders to safely delegate spending to dependents, and PhonePe expansion of UPI payments across Singapore, the UAE, France, and Nepal. Nigam also introduced the company's "Sachetization Phi-losophy," including PhonePe Daily FD starting at Rs 100 a day and daily Gold, Silver, and Mutual Fund SIPs from Rs 10. CRISP offers real-time market insights, while AI-pow-ered underwriting enables loan approvals in 2.5 minutes. PhonePe also showcased mer-chant tools, Smartpages, an AI Adani Group and Abu Dhabi-based Inter-national Holding Company (IHC) have finalized agreements with the Odisha government to explore 14 projects involving a proposed investment of Rs.2,10,500 crore and expected to create around 189,700 jobs. The projects span mining and metals, iron ore processing, industrial parks, container man-ufacturing, coal-to-chemicals, critical minerals, shipbuilding, agro-processing, renewable energy equipment, AI data cen-ters, petrochemicals, healthcare, and sustainable urban develop-ment. FOOD MINISTRY AND FCI SIGN MOU TO IMPROVE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY PHONEPE'S SAMEER NIGAM SHARES VISION FOR THE NEXT DECADEADANI GROUP, IHC SIGN MOUS WITH ODISHA FOR RS.2.1 TRILLION PROJECTS INDIA'S EXPORTS SAW FASTER GROWTH UNDER FTAS: PIYUSH GOYAL NEWSROOM GOVERNMENT & POLICY BUSINESS & ECONOMY DIGITAL PAYMENTSThe Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Department of Food & Public Distribu-tion (DFPD) have signed a Memo-randum of Understanding (MoU) for 2026-27 to improve operational efficiency, accountability, and modernization of India's foodgrain management system. The agreement establishes outcome-oriented annual targets covering storage, logistics, quality assurance, technology adoption, and resource management. It aims to reduce storage losses, optimize capacity utilization, strengthen supply-chain management, and reinforce quality-control systems across FCI operations. The framework also empha-sizes digitization, information technology, real-time monitoring, and employee capacity building. Some objectives will be linked to FCI depot performance through the Depot Darpan Portal, focusing on infrastructure, efficiency, and continuous improvement. The initiative seeks to promote transparent, technology-driven op-erations, optimize public resources, and strengthen India's food securi-ty system. The largest proposal is a Rs.50,000 crore AI data center at Naraj, followed by a Rs.40,000 crore coal-to-chemi-cals facility at Bedabahal. Two Rs.25,000 crore proj-ects cover iron ore processing and pellet production and renewable energy storage and equipment manufacturing. Other proposals include a Rs.20,000 crore shipbuilding cluster and a Rs.15,000 crore sports, wellness, and sustain-able city.
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