Sectoral updates - Newspaper Summary

 The sources provide a comprehensive overview of India's Sectoral Updates and Infrastructure landscape in October 2025, highlighting major investment challenges, government policy boosts, and significant activity across key industries like manufacturing, technology, and trade.

Infrastructure Challenges and Investment

The sources indicate a mixed picture for India's infrastructure sector: robust commitment to capital expenditure exists alongside significant cost overruns and implementation hurdles.

Major Project Delays and Cost Overruns

India’s largest infrastructure projects are grappling with significant time and cost escalations. A businessline analysis of a Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) report shows that the top 10 projects alone account for cost overruns exceeding ₹3.5 lakh crore.

• Sectoral Impact: Delays are widespread across railways, telecom, hydrocarbons, power, and irrigation sectors.
• Leading Overruns: BharatNet tops the list with a cost overrun of ₹1.26 lakh crore and only 81% physical progress, primarily due to logistical hurdles in challenging terrain, poor planning, missed deadlines, and coordination failures. BharatNet, aimed at expanding rural broadband, accounts for the single largest cost increase among all ongoing infrastructure projects.
• Other Key Projects Affected:
  • Western Dedicated Freight Corridor: Spread across multiple states, this project faces a cost overrun of ₹72,000 crore with 96% physical progress.
  • Polavaram Irrigation Project (Andhra Pradesh): Faces a cost escalation of ₹45,000 crore, with only 83% progress, largely due to flood damage to construction and political disagreements over submergence, environmental concerns, and tribal displacement.
  • Rajasthan Refinery Project: Recorded ₹36,000 crore in overruns (88% completed).
  • Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project (Arunachal Pradesh and Assam): Overran costs by ₹19,000 crore, mainly due to opposition from anti-dam groups concerned about environmental and social impacts, along with monsoon damage.
  • Mumbai Metro Line 3: Has seen an escalation of ₹14,000 crore.

These multi-State and pan-India initiatives highlight coordination hurdles and prolonged implementation cycles. However, some digital initiatives, like ‘4G mobile network coverage of uncovered villages,’ have recorded negligible or slightly negative cost changes due to falling technology costs over time.

Logistics and Connectivity Improvement

New investments and operational changes aim to enhance India's logistical efficiency:

• Rail Infrastructure: South Central Railway (SCR) reported its highest ever freight loading of 71.14 million tonnes in the first half of FY26, a 6% increase year-on-year. SCR’s gross originating revenue reached ₹10,143 crore in H1 FY26. Kashmir received its first automobile rake at the Anantnag Goods Shed, delivering 116 Maruti vehicles from the Manesar plant. This new rail route bypasses the weather-dependent Jammu-Srinagar highway, reducing costs and delays for dealers and consumers, especially in winter.
• Roads and Highways: The Ministry of Railways approved a ₹112 crore proposal for a six-lane road over bridge (RoB) in Andhra Pradesh between Mangalagiri and Krishna Canal Stations, aimed at connecting capital Amaravati with National Highway 16. The NHAI plans to install project-specific information signboards with QR codes along National Highways to provide relevant information and emergency helpline numbers.
• Port Development: L&T's Buildings & Factories division secured a major order, valued between ₹5,000 crore and ₹10,000 crore, for one of Bengaluru’s largest proposed IT parks, indicating continued development in metropolitan infrastructure.
• Aviation Capacity: The Air India Group is adjusting its domestic operations at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (T3) due to ongoing expansion activities. Sixty out of 180 daily domestic departures will relocate to Terminal 2 (T2), and Air India Express will move all domestic operations to the newly renovated Terminal 1 (T1).

Key Sectoral Updates

Technology and Digital Infrastructure

1. Data Centers: Sify Infinit Spaces Ltd, a unit of Sify Technologies, is preparing for a $500 million IPO in what could be the first listing by an Indian data-center operator. India’s demand for data centers is expected to more than double over the next three years, requiring an estimated investment of about ₹90,000 crore ($10.1 billion), driven by rising digital consumption, AI adoption, and data localization initiatives.
2. Global Capability Centers (GCCs): ANSR signed an MoU with the Maharashtra government to develop a dedicated GCC City in Navi Mumbai, following the state cabinet's approval of a new GCC Policy on September 30, 2025. The project aims to position Maharashtra as the GCC capital of India.
3. Digital Radio: TRAI recommended adopting a single standard for digital radio broadcasting in VHF Band II to prevent market fragmentation and achieve cost efficiencies. It also called for the use of the simulcast mode (combining digital and analogue services) and set reserve prices for spectrum auction in 13 A+ and A cities, with Mumbai having the highest reserve price at ₹194.08 crore.
4. Intellectual Property and IT: US tech companies filed a $500 million lawsuit against Hexaware Technologies, alleging patent infringement and breach of contract related to modernization platforms, including products related to Generative AI. This highlights the increasing criticality of clear contracts and IP audits for Indian IT firms.

Manufacturing and Automobiles

• Automotive Production: Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) reported a 26% year-on-year rise in production across plants in September, totaling 1,98,316 units. Manufacturing of utility vehicles (SUVs) like Brezza, Ertiga, and Fronx saw a 27% y-o-y increase. However, total domestic passenger vehicle dispatches to dealers declined 8% y-o-y.
• Logistics Bottlenecks: A Maruti Suzuki executive noted that the turnaround time for freight is slow (a trailer trip to the South or West and back takes around 18-19 days), though normalization is expected by October 10.
• Green Mobility: India’s e-bus sales rose 37% in H1 FY26 (April–September) to 2,241 units, led by Delhi (938 units, up 69%) and strong growth in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Government incentives (PM E-Drive scheme) and efforts to expand charging infrastructure (India has approx. 29,200 public charging stations) are fueling this growth. The government is working to reduce upfront costs for establishing public charging stations and procuring e-buses for intercity corridors.
• Machine Tools: Jyoti CNC Automation, which specializes in high-precision CNC lathes, is expanding its capacity by 10,000 units to 16,000 units to cater to rising demand, particularly from the Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) and Aerospace/Defence sectors. It aims to fill the demand-supply gap that currently relies heavily on imports, projecting an increase in the domestic share of CNC machines to 60% by 2027 (up from 54% in 2023).

Agriculture, Food, and Renewable Energy

1. Renewable Energy: Omkara Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC) acquired ₹3,763 crore in debt of Wind World India Ltd (WWIL), a key wind energy player, positioning Omkara ARC as the lead decision-maker in the resolution process. The government directed Renewable Energy (RE) agencies to invite fresh bids for clean power projects that were initially issued in haste to circumvent the Approved List of Models & Manufacturers (ALMM) guidelines for solar cells, mandating strict compliance with existing rules.
2. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): India is launching a pilot project to make SAF available at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. The Centre plans to implement indicative targets of 1% SAF blend in ATF from 2027, increasing to 5% by 2030, leveraging India's vast biomass and surplus agricultural residue (750 million tonnes and 230 million tonnes, respectively).
3. Edible Oils and Trade: The government lifted the ban on the export of de-oiled rice bran with immediate effect, reversing a restriction in place since July 2023. This move is expected to benefit the rice milling and solvent extraction industry, particularly in Eastern India, boosting agro-processing exports. The previous ban was imposed due to rising prices of milk products caused by high fodder costs.
4. Commodity Pricing and Trade Protection: The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) proposed an anti-dumping duty (ADD) of $79–113/mt on soda ash imports from countries like Turkey, Russia, and the US, a measure expected to positively affect domestic soda ash pricing by ₹1,500–₹2,000/mt.
5. Agricultural Policy Critique (Urea Shortfall): The shortage of urea fertilizer in several states, despite good monsoon, is attributed to a "flawed agricultural policy" that overwhelmingly favors paddy cultivation through the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system. This policy preference has driven farmers to use excessive urea (150-200 kg/hectare for paddy) and expand paddy acreage into non-traditional regions, causing nutrient imbalances and environmental damage. Structural reform to diversify crop procurement beyond paddy is suggested as the only long-term solution.
6. Sugar and Bioplastics: The Maharashtra government approved the start of the sugarcane crushing season from November 1, but heavy rain may reduce the percentage of sugar recovery. Separately, Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd (BCML) is building India’s first large-scale Polylactic Acid (PLA) bioplastic plant (estimated capacity 80,000 tonnes per annum) at an investment of ₹2,850 crore, marking a significant pivot from sugar production to specialized, eco-friendly products.

Consumer Goods and Retail

• Retail Shift: Urban shoppers are moving away from traditional hypermarkets (which struggle with rising rents, high utility costs, and competition from quick-commerce (q-comm) players) toward gourmet and premium retail formats. Malls are adapting by replacing hypermarkets with food halls, entertainment centers, and co-working hubs to boost footfall and rental yields.
• FMCG and GST Compliance: The FMCG sector was "rattled" after the Delhi High Court mandated that GST rate reductions must be passed on to consumers through transparent price cuts, rather than indirectly by increasing product grammage or offering promotions. Companies like HUL and Bisleri confirmed implementing price reductions. Approximately 30% of Marico Ltd's domestic business benefited from the GST rate rationalization (GST 2.0), enabling the passing of benefits to consumers.
• E-commerce Regulations: The government is investigating e-commerce platforms for potentially using "dark patterns," such as charging customers extra for cash-on-delivery (CoD), and is monitoring them to ensure GST rate cut benefits are passed on to consumers. Separately, Flipkart's updated Goods Transport Agency (GTA) rate card is pushing logistics costs onto sellers, squeezing their margins and triggering concerns over reporting sales figures.