NEW DELHI, 14 October— India is ready to explore building patrol vessels, radars, air-defence systems, helicopters and drones together with Southeast Asian partners, “according to each country’s needs and priorities”, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, He said this during inaugurating the maiden ASEAN-India Defence Think Tank Forum in New Delhi on 14 October.
“Self-reliance does not mean working in isolation,” he said. Aatmanirbhar Bharat, in his telling, can open the door for trusted partners to design, build, maintain and improve equipment with India. “Our goal should be lasting partnerships, not one-time transactions.”
At a glance
Forum: 1st ASEAN-India Defence Think Tank Forum, 14–15 October 2026, MP-IDSA
Taking part: all 11 ASEAN member states and India
Announced: Kuala Lumpur, 31 October 2025
Offered for joint work: patrol vessels, radars, air-defence systems, helicopters, drones
What India gains
A regional platform for co-development and co-production of Indian defence equipment.
Rs 151-crore push for India’s heavy-lift cargo drone
NEW DELHI, 14 October — A drone that can lift 200 kg, fly 200 km and take off from a patch of ground 15 metres square is the target of a ₹151 crore agreement between the Technology Development Board and Mumbai-based ideaForge Technology.
The aircraft is called YETI. It is a hybrid: it rises vertically like a helicopter, then flies on fixed wings for range.
At a glance
Payload: up to 200 kg · Range: up to 200 km · Altitude: up to 6,500 m
Landing area: about 15 m × 15 m
Project cost: ₹302 crore · TDB support: ₹151 crore, as debt
Readiness: TRL-4 now, TRL-9 targeted
What India gains
An Indian heavy-lift cargo drone for terrain where roads cannot go.
Centre unveils Rs 33,600 crore industrial park mission
NEW DELHI, 14 October — The Centre’s Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojna, or BHAVYA, will spend ₹33,660 crore over six years to build 100 plug-and-play industrial parks with States and private developers.
The scheme pays up to ₹1 crore an acre, and up to a quarter of a park’s approved funding can go on the road, rail and last-mile links outside its gate. Parks range from 25 to 1,000 acres. The first 50 will be picked in a challenge between States, in two rounds, on readiness, land and industrial potential.
At a glance
Outlay: ₹33,660 crore, FY 2026–27 to FY 2031–32
Parks: 100, first 50 by challenge
Support: up to ₹1 crore an acre · park size 25 to 1,000 acres
SEZ yardstick: 370 zones, ₹7.82 lakh crore invested, 31.7 lakh jobs
What India gains
Factory land ready on day one, in every region that wins a park.
India opens resident mission in Costa Rica
NEW DELHI, 14 October — India’s map of embassies grew by one when its new resident Mission in San José, Costa Rica, began work on 10 October the Ministry of External Affairs announced The Ministry said the Mission will expand India’s footprint in Central America, promote trade and investment, and give Indians in Costa Rica consular help on the spot.
The same day, the Ministry announced that Minister of State for External Affairs and Textiles Pabitra Margherita will visit Samoa, the Cook Islands and Nauru from 16 to 22 October 2026. He is to meet the leadership of all three, the Indian community, and visit India-assisted development projects, under the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation.
What India gains
A resident voice in a region where it had none and steady attention to the Pacific island states that India meets under FIPIC.
Wholesale inflation surges to 11.39pc in September
NEW DELHI, 14 October — Wholesale inflation rose to 11.39% in September 2026 from 9.92% in August, according to provisional figures released by the Office of the Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 14 Octobe., Fuel and power prices were 25.85% above a year earlier, and mineral oils alone 40.02%.
What India gains
an early, detailed read of where price pressure is building in the supply chain, item by item, before it settles in household budgets.
Coir exports quadruple in 11 years to Rs 6,614 crore
NEW DELHI, 14 October — India sold ₹6,614.40 crore of coir and coir products abroad in 2025–26, up from ₹1,630.33 crore in 2014–15, according to a Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises release. That is growth of about 13.6% a year for eleven years.
The husk of the coconut supports more than 21,000 units and over 7 lakh workers, directly and indirectly, 80% of them women from rural households, the Ministry says. India makes about two-thirds of the world’s coir.
What India gains
Export earnings from a farm waste, and paid work for rural women in coconut districts such as Alappuzha, Kozhikode, East Godavari and Sindhudurg, the places the Ministry’s own success stories come from.
