Current Affairs - Finance

On September 22, 2025, the Government of India signed a $125 million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to strengthen infrastructure in Assam. The initiative, called the Assam Urban Sector Development Project, aims to improve urban water supply, enhance flood management systems, and promote better urban governance. Around 360,000 residents are expected to benefit directly from this project. Key interventions include constructing six water treatment plants, laying 800 km of pipelines, and upgrading Guwahati’s drainage systems to reduce flooding. Additionally, institutional reforms such as GIS-based property tax databases and digital billing systems will ensure transparency and financial sustainability.

PhonePe received final approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on September 19, 2025, to operate as an online payment aggregator. This authorization allows the fintech platform to provide secure and scalable digital payment solutions, particularly benefiting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that previously lacked easy access to online payment infrastructure. As a payment aggregator, PhonePe will act as an intermediary between customers, merchants, and banks, ensuring secure transactions, operational transparency, and consumer protection. The move strengthens India’s digital payments ecosystem and supports financial inclusion by enabling seamless digital transactions for a wider range of businesses across urban and rural areas.

India signed a $126 million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to boost sustainable tourism in Uttarakhand, particularly focusing on Tehri Garhwal District. The project is expected to benefit nearly 87,000 local residents while enhancing the experience for about 2.7 million annual visitors. The funding will help in strengthening tourism planning, improving infrastructure, ensuring proper sanitation and waste management, and enhancing disaster preparedness in the region. By promoting environmentally responsible and culturally sensitive tourism, the project aims to balance economic development with ecological preservation, creating long-term benefits for both local communities and visitors.

Starting September 15, 2025, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) revised the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) limits for specific high-value Person to Merchant (P2M) transactions made through verified merchants. The per-transaction cap has been raised to ₹5 lakh, while the daily cumulative limit has been increased to ₹10 lakh. This enhanced limit covers sectors such as capital markets, insurance, government tax payments, credit card settlements, EMI collections, and travel bookings. The decision aims to strengthen India’s digital payments ecosystem, making UPI more versatile for high-value financial activities while ensuring secure, real-time, and cashless transactions at scale.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced that peer-to-peer ‘collect requests’ on UPI will be discontinued starting October 1, 2025. This feature, which allowed one user to request payment approval from another, had become a major loophole exploited by fraudsters, despite transaction caps and limits. By mandating only payer-initiated (push) transactions such as QR code scans or manual entry of recipient details, NPCI aims to strengthen digital payment security. The move affects all UPI apps including PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm, and is expected to enhance trust, reduce fraud risks, and ensure safer digital transactions nationwide.