India: Government, Public Sector

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Finance had, in February 2026, issued Press Note 1 (2026 Series) (“Press Note 1”) which proposed increasing the foreign investment cap...

India’s foreign direct investment regime has undergone a noticeable shift over the last few years, shaped both by global economic conditions and domestic policy priorities. While India has continued to attract steady foreign capital, particularly into manufacturing and technology-linked sectors, it has also tightened its regulatory lens in areas involving ownership and control.

Events in April 2026 underscored a defining feature of India’s economic trajectory: resilience in the face of external volatility, coupled with an increasingly execution-oriented domestic policy framework.

Section 29A of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, prescribes strict timelines for arbitration proceedings, but what happens when these deadlines expire?

A jurisdictional conflict has emerged between the Union and Delhi governments over stamp duty collection on share issuances, leaving companies caught between competing regulatory frameworks.

In a recent ruling, the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench (“Bombay HC”) in Dr. Meenakshi Muthiah v. State of Maharashtra1, observed that the right to maternity leave is an integral facet of a woman’s fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,1950 (“Constitution”) and cannot be curtailed by service bonds, contractual obligations, or administrative instructions. The Bombay HC emphasised that maternity leave cannot be treated as a break in service and that penalising a woman for availing maternity leave would undermine the dignity of motherhood and the constitutional mandate of social justice.

The interface between constitutional remedies and statutory arbitration mechanisms has long been a subject of intense judicial scrutiny in Indian jurisprudence.

The Union Cabinet has approved a significant relaxation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms for investments from countries sharing land borders with India, marking a potential shift from the stringent framework introduced under Press Note 3 (2020 Series). This policy change aims to balance national security considerations with investment facilitation and economic engagement, potentially improving investor sentiment while maintaining regulatory oversight for strategic interests.

In the March edition of Defence Dispatch, we lead with AI in warfare, looking at how the ongoing conflict in West Asia, the growing use of low-cost autonomous systems, and the public clash between Anthropic and the U.S.

The maintenance of the sanctity of public procurement law in India has faced the perpetual struggle between administrative efficacy and the protection of fundamental rights of those safeguarding the nation’s infrastructure.

The Karnataka Real Estate Appellate Tribunal, in its judgment dated March 26, 2026, in Alekhya Property Developments Pvt. Ltd. v. Resmi Maream Vergis and Others [(2026) ibclaw.in 159 REAT], Appeal No. (K-REAT)...

India’s arbitration landscape has evolved significantly through legislative reforms and a pro-arbitration judicial approach. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 has undergone several amendments in the past three decades to position India as a global arbitration hub. However, a series of developments from 2023-2024 have disrupted India’s trajectory toward becoming a global arbitration hub.