A Securities and Exchange Board of India working group held its first meeting focused on reviving the country's stock lending and borrowing (SLB) scheme, with custodians and digitization identified as the two primary levers. The discussions centered on drawing institutional participants into the SLB ecosystem via custodian infrastructure, which has historically remained underutilized in this segment. India's SLB mechanism has long struggled with thin volumes relative to the scale of the equity market, limiting its usefulness for hedging, short-selling, and portfolio yield enhancement. Routing participation through custodians could lower operational friction for foreign portfolio investors and domestic institutions that already hold securities in custodial accounts, effectively converting latent inventory into lendable supply. Digitization of the lending process would further reduce settlement risk and documentation burden. The working group's mandate and composition suggest Sebi is treating SLB as a structural market-development priority rather than an incremental fix. Watch for draft recommendations on custodian eligibility rules, fee frameworks, and digital infrastructure mandates.
India's government plans to amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act to restore UPI merchant discount rates, ending the zero-MDR regime in place since January 2020.
India's government has introduced the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposing changes to payments regulation, income tax, and the Finance Act to attract FDI and support Make in India. The Bill's final shape will depend on parliamentary debate and committee review.
The government's Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposes to replace the blanket UPI MDR ban with a system allowing the Centre to notify which payment modes stay fee-free.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Rs 5,000 crore Bhogapuram greenfield airport in Andhra Pradesh, built under a public-private partnership model. He also laid foundation stones for infrastructure projects worth nearly Rs 18,000 crore in the state, signalling a broad investment push for the region.
