As announced in the Statement of Developmental and Regulatory Policies on October 09, 2020, RBI has been decided to conduct On tap Targeted Long-term Repo Operations of up to three years tenor for a total amount of up to ₹1,00,000 crore at a floating rate linked to the policy repo rate. Liquidity availed by banks under the scheme has to be deployed in corporate bonds, commercial paper and non-convertible debentures issued by the entities in specific sectors over and above the outstanding level of their investments in such instruments as on September 30, 2020. Liquidity availed under the scheme can also be used to extend loans and advances to these sectors. Investments made by banks under this facility will be classified as held to maturity (HTM) even in excess of 25 percent of total investment permitted to be included in the HTM portfolio. All exposures under this facility will also be exempted from reckoning under the large exposure framework (LEF).

The Union Cabinet has given its approval to pay Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB)for the year 2019-2020 to 16.97 lakh non-gazetted employees of commercial establishments like Railways, Posts, Defence, EPFO,ESIC,etc.will be benefitted and the financial implication would be Rs.2,791 crore.

Non-PLB or ad-hoc Bonus is given to Non-Gazetted Central Government employees. 13.70 lakh employees would be benefited and Rs.946 crore will be the financial implication for the same.

A total of 30.67 lakh employees would be benefited by the Bonus announcement and total financial implication will be Rs 3,737 crore.

Payment of Bonus to non-gazetted employees for their performance in the preceding year is usually made before Durga Puja/Dussehra season. The Government is announcing the Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) and ad hoc bonus for its non-gazetted employees to be disbursed immediately.

For the financial year 2020-21, during April to August, total FDI inflow of US$ 35.73 billion is received, the ministry of commerce stated. It is the highest ever for first 5 months of a financial year and 13% higher as compared to first five months of 2019-20 (US$ 31.60 billion). FDI equity inflow received during F.Y. 2020-21 (April to August, 2020) is US$ 27.10 billion. It is also the highest ever for first 5 months of a financial year and 16% more compared to first five months of 2019-20 (US$ 23.35 billion). Total FDI inflow grew by 55%, i.e. from US$ 231.37 billion in 2008-14 to US$ 358.29 billion in 2014-20. FDI equity inflow also increased by 57% from US$ 160.46 billion during 2008-14 to US$ 252.42 billion (2014-20).

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a major driver of economic growth and an important source of non-debt finance for the economic development of India. It has been the endeavor of the Government to put in place an enabling and investor friendly FDI policy. The intent all this while has been to make the FDI policy more investor friendly and remove the policy bottlenecks that have been hindering the investment inflows into the country. The steps taken in this direction during the last six years have borne fruit as is evident from the ever increasing volumes of FDI inflows being received into the country. Continuing on the path of FDI liberalization and simplification, Government has carried out FDI reforms across various sectors. Measures taken by the Government on the fronts of FDI policy reforms, investment facilitation and ease of doing business have resulted in increased FDI inflows into the country.

The Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) released data on the performance of the private corporate sector during the first quarter of 2020-21 drawn from abridged quarterly financial results of 2,5361 listed non-government non-financial (NGNF) companies. The bank noted that aggregate sales of 1,619 manufacturing companies recorded a sharp contraction of 41.1% (Y-o-Y) in Q1:2020-21 following 15.6% decline in Q4:2019-20 reflecting the impact of the pandemic induced lockdown; the contraction was broad based and varied across industries - only pharmaceutical companies recorded higher sales on both annual (Y-o-Y) and sequential (Q-o-Q) basis.

Non-IT services companies also registered sharp contraction of 41% (Y-o-Y) in their nominal sales; the contraction was across services except telecommunication companies. Sales growth of IT sector companies remained in positive terrain but moderated to 3.2% (Y-o-Y) in Q1:2020-21.
Subdued scale of operations resulted in lower raw materials expenditure for the manufacturing sector in Q1:2020-21. Staff cost contracted for manufacturing and non-IT services sectors while its growth decelerated for IT companies in Q1:2020-21.

Lower business operations led to decline in the operating profits of manufacturing and non-IT services companies; while operating profits of IT companies, on the other hand, increased by 9.4% (Y-o-Y) in Q1:2020-21.

With moderation in earnings, interest coverage ratio (ICR) of the manufacturing companies moderated further to 2.4 in Q1:2020-21 from 3.5 in the previous quarter. Operating profit margins remained steady for manufacturing companies and improved for services companies in Q1:2020-21.

The All-India Consumer Price Index Numbers for Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers (Base: 1986-87=100) for the month of September, 2020 increased by 11 points and 10 points to stand at 1037 (One thousand and thirty seven) and 1043 (One thousand and forty three) points respectively. The major contribution towards the rise in general index of Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers came from food, with (+) 9.20 points and (+) 8.95 points respectively mainly due to rise in prices of arhar dal, masur dal, ground nut oil, mustard oil, vegetables and fruits etc.

In case of Rural Labourers, it recorded an increase of 2 to 20 points in 20 States. Tamil Nadu State with 1218 points topped the index table whereas Himachal Pradesh State with 863 points stood at the bottom.

Amongst states, the maximum increase in the Consumer Price Index Numbers for Agricultural Labourers was experienced by Himachal Pradesh State (+23 points) and for Rural Labourers, it was experienced by Jammu & Kashmir State (+20 points) mainly due to rise in the prices of wheat-atta, pulses, mustard-oil, milk, onion, chillies-dry, garlic, ginger, barber charges, bus fare, vegetables and fruits etc.

Point to point rate of inflation based on the CPI-AL and CPI-RL decreased to 6.25% and 6.10% in September, 2020 from 6.32% and 6.28% respectively in August, 2020. Inflation based on food index of CPI-AL and CPI-RL is at (+) 7.65% & (+) 7.61% respectively in September, 2020.

India has leaped across several significant milestones in its fight against COVID. The new confirmed cases in the last 24 hours have fallen below 50,000 (46,790) for the first time in nearly three months. The new cases were 47,703 on 28th July. With a high number of COVID patients recovering every day and the sustained fall in the mortality rate, India's steady trend of registering dipping active cases continues. In another achievement, the percentage active cases have fallen below 10%. The total positive cases of the country today are less than 7.5 lakh (7,48,538) and comprise merely 9.85% of the total cases.

The Government of India (GoI) has announced the Sale (Re-issue) of (i) '5.09 per cent Government Stock, 2022' for a notified amount of Rs 3,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction, (ii) '5.22 per cent Government Stock, 2025' for a notified amount of Rs 12,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction, (iii) '5.77 per cent Government Stock, 2030' for a notified amount of Rs 9,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction, and (iv) '6.80% Government Stock, 2060' for a notified amount of Rs 7,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction. GoI will have the option to retain additional subscription up to Rs2,000 crore against each of the above securities. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, using multiple price method. Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of the stocks will be allotted to eligible individuals and Institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities.

The arrival of Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2020-21 has already commenced and Government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at its MSP from farmers as per its existing MSP Schemes as was done in previous seasons. With start of procurement in some new States like Uttarakhand, the paddy procurement for KMS 2020-21 is progressing in full swing with purchase of over 76.77 LMTs of paddy upto 16.10.2020 from 6.69 lac farmers with MSP outflow of Rs.14495.22 crores.

Based on the proposal from the States, approval was accorded for procurement of 41.67 LMT of Pulse and Oilseeds of Kharif Marketing Season 2020 for the States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh under Price Support Scheme (PSS). Further, sanction for procurement of 1.23 LMT of Copra (the perennial crop) for the State of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala was also given. For other States/UTs approval will also be accorded on receipt of proposals for procurement of Pulses, Oilseeds and Copra under PSS so that procurement of FAQ grade of these crops can be made at notified MSP for the year 2020-21 directly from the registered farmers, if the market rate goes below MSP during the notified harvesting period in the respective States/UTs by the Central Nodal Agencies through State nominated procuring agencies.

Upto 16.10.2020, the Government through its Nodal Agencies has procured 723.79 MT of Moong and Urad having MSP value of Rs. 5.21 Crores benefitting 681 farmers in Tamil Nadu Maharashtra and Haryana. Similarly, 5089 MT of copra (the perennial crop) having MSP value of Rs. 52.40 crore has been procured benefitting 3961 farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In respect of Copra and Urad, rates are ruling above MSP in most of the major producing States. The respective State/UTs Governments are making necessary arrangements for commencement of procurement from the date as decided by the respective States based on the arrivals in respect of Kharif Pulses and Oilseeds.

Yogi Adityanath, Hon'ble Chief Minister, Government of Uttar Pradesh , while addressing the India International Food & Agri Week organised by CII, said that “ We all know how the current pandemic has affected every sector. Despite this, Agriculture has grown & contributed to the national GDP. We have successfully run all 119 sugar mills of the state maintaining lockdown guidelines so that the farmers are not impacted. He added that farmers' welfare is of utmost importance for us & to assist them financially is an important objective of our government. Uttar Pradesh is one of the major producers of horticultural crops and food grains in India, which serves as a strong base for the food processing industry. As many as 92% farmers in the state are marginal farmers & for their economic development it is important to recognise their efforts. We have started work in this direction & released the Policy for FPOs. The 1st phase of formation of FPOs at the block level is underway. He shared that UP has been allocated 1297 crore from the 1 lakh crore of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. Through the One District One Product scheme, agricultural produce from various districts is being promoted.

The Reserve Bank of India, as announced in the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated October 09, 2020, will conduct Open Market Operations (OMOs) in State Developments Loans (SDLs). It has been decided to conduct a purchase auction of SDLs under Open Market Operations (OMOs) for an aggregate amount of ₹10,000 crores on October 22, 2020, keeping in view that this is the first ever OMO purchase of SDLs. Depending on market response, the size of the auctions may be enhanced in the subsequent auctions. Accordingly, RBI will purchase the SDLs given in Annex-1 through a multi-security auction using the multiple price method. There is no security-wise notified amount. The Reserve Bank reserves the right to decide on the quantum of purchase of individual securities, accept bids for less than the aggregate amount, purchase marginally higher/lower than the aggregate amount due to rounding-off, accept or reject any or all the bids either wholly or partially without assigning any reasons.

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) announced crossing Rs 5 lakh crore Assets Under Management (AUM) mark. The subscriber's contributions under the National Pension System (NPS) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) have jointly contributed to this landmark figure, over a period of 12 years. The growth in NPS subscribers has also been remarkable over the years with 70.40 lakhs employees joining the scheme from the government sector and 24.24 lakhs from the non-government sector. As on 10th Oct 2020, the total number of subscribers under NPS and Atal Pension Yojana has crossed 3.76 crores and the Asset under Management (AUM) has grown to Rs 5,05,424 crores.

Supratim Bandyopadhyay, Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), said that achieving Rs 5 lakh crore AUM is a major achievement which reflects the subscribers have faith in PFRDA and NPS. We have enabled a robust and unique architecture with efficient systems and professional fund managers delivering market based returns enabling our subscriber to accumulate their retirement corpus. During this pandemic, a growing realisation of both corporates and individuals has emerged that retirement planning is not a mere saving or tax benefit choice, witnessed by NPS enrolment growing almost 14% during this challenging period.

India's exports in September 2020 were USD27.58 Billion, as compared to USD 26.02Billion in September 2019, exhibiting a positive growth of 5.99 percent. Imports in September 2020 were USD 30.31Billion, which is a contraction of 19.60 per cent lower in Dollar terms, as per the government data released on Thursday. It was $37.69 billion in the same month last year. The trade deficit narrowed to USD 2.72 billion, compared to a shortfall of USD11.67 billion in the year ago-month. Gold imports declined by nearly 53 per cent to USD 601.43 million in September. During the April-September 2020 period, exports declined by 16.66 per cent to USD 221.86 billion, while imports fell 35.43 per cent to USD 204.12 billion over the same period last year. Major export commodities that have recorded positive growth during September include iron ore, readymade garments, rice and drugs and pharmaceuticals.

The data further revealed that non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in September stood at USD 21.27 billion, as compared to USD 19 billion in the same period previous fiscal, registering a growth of 11.94 per cent. Oil imports dipped 35.88 per cent to USD 5.83 billion in September. During April-September, it declined 51.14 per cent to USD 31.86 billion. Taking merchandise and services together, the overall trade surplus for April-September is estimated at USD17.74 billion as compared to the deficit of USD 49.91 billion in the year-ago period.

The central government will borrow ₹1.1 lakh crore under the special window to meet the shortfall of Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation, the finance ministry informed on Thursday. Under the Special Window, the estimated shortfall of ₹1.1 lakh cr (assuming all States join) will be borrowed by Government of India in appropriate tranches. The amount so borrowed will be passed on to the States as a back-to-back loan in lieu of GST Compensation Cess releases, the finance ministry stated.

This will not have any impact on the fiscal deficit of the Government of India. The amounts will be reflected as the capital receipts of the State Governments and as part of financing of its respective fiscal deficits. This will avoid differential rates of interest that individual States may be charged for their respective SDLs and will be an administratively easier arrangement. The govt also clarified that the General Government (States+Centre) borrowings will not increase by this step. The States that get the benefit from the Special Window are likely to borrow a considerably lesser amount from the additional borrowing facility of 2% of GSDP (from 3% to 5%) under the Aatma Nirbhar Package, the ministry stated.

India is reporting a progressively high increase in the recoveries and a persistent decline in the percentage active cases. As a result, the doubling time of the infection has sharply improved. It is now almost 73 days (72.8 days). This indicates a substantial fall in the daily New Cases and the consequent increase in time taken to double the Total Cases. India has come a long way from registering a doubling rate of 25.5 days in mid August to now registering a doubling rate of nearly 73 days. This is the result of collaborative action by States/UTs under the Centre's strategy of comprehensive and high countrywide testing, prompt and effective surveillance and tracking, quick hospitalization and effective adherence of the Standard Treatment Protocol issued by the Union Government. This is also the combined outcome of the selfless service and dedication of doctors, paramedics, frontline workers and all other COVID-19 warriors.

The countrywide growing awareness regarding adoption of COVID appropriate behaviour has aided in curbing spread of the infection and seeking timely treatment. 81,514 new recoveries were added in the last 24 hour. With this, the total number of recoveries are nearly 64 Lakh (63,83,441). Higher number of single day recoveries is also reflected in the continuous increase in the national recovery rate, which has crossed 87% and now is 87.36%.