US Reciprocal Tariffs: Impact On Indian Pharmaceutical Exports

The Reserve Bank of India has introduced comprehensive new regulations consolidating the entire export-import framework, set to take effect from October 2026.

The Central Boilers Board (“CBB”), under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (“DPIIT”), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has notified the Indian Boiler Regulations, 2026 (“IBR 2026”) under the Boilers Act, 2025.

The 2026 Regulations are primarily principle-based and are intended to promote ease of doing business, especially for small exporters and importers. They are also intended to empower Authorised Dealers (‘AD’) to provide quicker and more efficient service to their customers.

On 2nd May 2025, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, through its Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), issued a significant notification prohibiting the import...

The India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, which was signed on 27th April 2026, will enter into force on 20th October 2026. With effect from such date, tariffs on textiles, apparel, leather, footwear, engineering goods, and processed foods, exported from India to New Zealand will be eliminated.

India and the European Union (EU) concluded talks on the much-awaited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on 27 January 2026, following 14 rounds of negotiations relaunched in 2022. The conclusion was jointly announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, with the latter describing the agreement reached as the “mother of all deals”.India and the European Union (EU) concluded talks on the much-awaited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on 27 January 2026, following 14 rounds of negotiations relaunched in 2022. The conclusion was jointly announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, with the latter describing the agreement reached as the “mother of all deals”.

The European Union's 2026 Steel import Regulation marks a fundamental shift from temporary trade safeguards to permanent industrial policy, dramatically reducing tariff-free quotas by 47%, doubling out-of-quota duties to 50%, and introducing stringent 'melt and pour' traceability requirements. This transformation raises critical questions about whether traditional distinctions between trade remedies and industrial policy are disappearing, with significant implications for major steel exporters like India.

The Hague convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters was signed on 15 November 1965.

On January 13, 2026, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) notified the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, which shall come into force on October 01, 2026 (2026 Regulation).

India and Korea commence 2026 amidst intensified trade enforcement, realignment of supply chains, and ongoing negotiations for the upgrade of the CEPA.

A personal data breach can create immediate legal, operational, and reputational consequences for an organisation. Under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (DPDP Rules), specific obligations have been prescribed for Data Fiduciaries following a personal data breach. While organisations may already have broader data protection and cybersecurity measures in place, breach notification requires a distinct and time-sensitive response. The DPDP framework requires communication both to affected Data Principals and to the Data Protection Board of India.

India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) introduces a relatively permissive framework for the cross-border transfer of personal data from India. Unlike the European Union’s GDPR, which relies extensively on adequacy decisions and prescribed transfer safeguards, the DPDP framework adopts a negative-list approach: international transfers are generally permitted, subject to restrictions that may be notified by the Central Government.

India’s data protection framework has moved from legislation to implementation. With the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”) and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (“DPDP Rules”) now notified, organizations processing personal data in India need to reassess how long they retain personal data, why they retain it, and how they ultimately delete or anonymize it.

Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) remain one of the most widely used instruments for venture capital and private equity investments in Indian companies. Their appeal lies in the ability to combine equity classification with negotiated economic and governance protections. But CCPS are not governed by a single, standalone statutory framework. Their legal treatment is instead shaped by the Companies Act, FEMA and foreign investment rules, tax law, and, where applicable, SEBI regulations.

India’s data protection landscape is undergoing its most significant shift in over a decade. The Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 (“SPDI Rules”), have long formed the core of personal data protection obligations under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act“) for body corporates handling sensitive personal data or information.

India’s data protection regime has moved well past the discussion stage. With the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (“DPDP Rules”) notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (“MeitY”) on 13 November 2025, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”) now has a defined implementation roadmap, and 2026 is the year businesses should be using to prepare for substantive compliance.

In August 2026, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the draft Reserve Bank of India (Interest Rates on Loans and Advances) Directions, 2026, proposing a comprehensive framework for the way regulated entities determine and apply interest rates on loans. While the Indian banking sector has long operated under a patchwork of institution specific instructions, the draft Directions seek to bring much-needed consistency to interest rate regulation across banks, cooperative banks, regional rural banks (RRBs), all-India financial institutions and NBFCs. If finalised in their present form, the Directions will come into effect from 1 April 2027.

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (“AI”) has brought data protection considerations into the design, training and deployment of AI systems. AI models may be trained using datasets containing names, images, text, identifiers, behavioural information or other data that can relate to identifiable individuals. AI systems may also process personal data when they are deployed for purposes such as recruitment, credit assessment, insurance, healthcare, customer profiling or content moderation.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (“DPDP Rules”) were notified on 13 November 2025, more than two years after the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act” or “Act”) received Presidential assent. The Government has adopted a phased implementation approach, with most of the substantive obligations under the Act and Rules becoming operative 18 months from the date of notification, i.e., on 13 May 2027.

The Act, the Rules and the OGAI are therefore simultaneously operational. The prohibition provisions under Chapter III of the Act, the criminal penalties under Chapter V of the Act and the institutional framework under the Rules are all in effect. There is effectively no formal compliance window for core prohibitions and penalties; stakeholders should treat the regime as immediately operational and adjust business models without delay.