
Business
India Doubled Its Subsidy to Refine Lithium and Nickel It Barely Mines
The Cabinet's Rs 2,814 crore scheme pays 30 per cent of plant costs, double the rate floated in February. It funds refining, not ore, and India's ore supply is the part the scheme does not touch.
By The Signal Editorial
November 5, 2026 · 5 min read
The Latest

Business
India Makes More Steel Than the US and Japan Combined and Still Imports More Than It Exports
India made 13.9 million tonnes of crude steel in September 2026, more than the US and Japan together. But consumption is rising 8 percent a year against output growth of 1.9 percent, and the gap is being filled by imports.
November 5, 2026

Business
India's Edible Oil Imports Hit a Two-Year High Right After a Duty Cut
The government cut duties on crude edible oils to lower prices. October imports then jumped 13% to about 1.74 million tonnes, with soyoil at a record. The cheaper oil comes with a bigger import bill.
November 4, 2026

Technology
India Runs 500 Million Bank Data Consents and Now Calls Consent Impractical for AI
India's banking data network asks for a consent every time data moves. A new government handbook for AI training says that step is impractical at scale and moves the safeguard elsewhere.
November 4, 2026

Markets
The RBI Aimed at Rupee Speculators and Dollar Hedging Fell by a Third
The RBI's 10 October curbs helped the rupee recover. They also made every dollar hedge costlier, and forward buying fell from a record $77 billion to $49.5 billion in a month.
November 4, 2026

Geopolitics
Most States That Still Penalise a Third Child Already Sit Below Replacement Fertility
On 4 November 2026 the Supreme Court said laws penalising a third child have lost their relevance. The fertility data says the laws are stranger than outdated: they sit almost entirely where the problem they target has already gone.
November 4, 2026

Business
India's Newest Storage Subsidy Is Two-Thirds Pumped Hydro, Not Batteries
The Cabinet cleared Rs 14,500 crore for 92 GWh of storage. Only 30 GWh is batteries, and the support covers about 15 percent of the estimated investment, against up to 40 percent in the first battery round.
November 4, 2026
Business & Markets

Business
India Doubled Its Subsidy to Refine Lithium and Nickel It Barely Mines
The Cabinet's Rs 2,814 crore scheme pays 30 per cent of plant costs, double the rate floated in February. It funds refining, not ore, and India's ore supply is the part the scheme does not touch.
November 5, 2026

Business
India Makes More Steel Than the US and Japan Combined and Still Imports More Than It Exports
India made 13.9 million tonnes of crude steel in September 2026, more than the US and Japan together. But consumption is rising 8 percent a year against output growth of 1.9 percent, and the gap is being filled by imports.
November 5, 2026

Business
India's Edible Oil Imports Hit a Two-Year High Right After a Duty Cut
The government cut duties on crude edible oils to lower prices. October imports then jumped 13% to about 1.74 million tonnes, with soyoil at a record. The cheaper oil comes with a bigger import bill.
November 4, 2026
Technology & Science

Technology
India Runs 500 Million Bank Data Consents and Now Calls Consent Impractical for AI
India's banking data network asks for a consent every time data moves. A new government handbook for AI training says that step is impractical at scale and moves the safeguard elsewhere.
November 4, 2026

Technology
Apple's Record India Quarter Came With Fewer iPhones Sold
Apple's India revenue hit a record in the September 2026 quarter even as iPhone shipments fell, because the average price crossed $1,000. The larger story is that India now exports about 41 percent of the phones it makes.
November 3, 2026

Technology
Washington's Intel Stake Lost More in One Day Than It Cost
Intel fell 29% in a day and the US stake in it lost about $12 billion on paper, more than the $8.9 billion Washington paid. India backs its chip plants with grants, not a share price, and the two designs carry risk in very different places.
October 31, 2026
Health, Culture & Geopolitics

Health
India Confirms Hundreds of Heat Deaths a Year, but El Niño May Bring 55,000 by March
A new tracker projects about 55,000 heat deaths in India between October and March, most of them in March. The official count recorded 159 heat deaths in all of 2024, so the toll the country will be judged on may never appear in its own numbers.
October 29, 2026

Health
India Caps How Fast Most Medicine Prices Rise, Not Where They Start
The Supreme Court has reserved its order on why most medicines sit outside India's price control regime. For about four fifths of sales by value, the law limits yearly increases and leaves the starting price to the manufacturer.
October 28, 2026

Health
The Malaria Vaccine With a 40 Percent Price Cut Still Costs Twice as Much as Its Rival
Gavi and UNICEF cut the price of the Mosquirix malaria vaccine by about 40 percent to 5.50 euros a dose. Its rival R21 is $2.99, and WHO says neither performs better. The deal is conditional on a manufacturing move to India's Bharat Biotech.
October 23, 2026