India continues to be in the top 10 global cross-border investment destinations for land and development sites, a report showed on Wednesday.

The country is emerging as a key investment destination within Asia Pacific, driven by strong fundamentals, a maturing real estate market, and growing interest in land and development assets.

Favourable policy measures and continued infrastructure push are further enhancing the investment climate and reinforcing India's appeal to global and regional capital, said the report from Colliers.

India’s infrastructure has seen rapid progress in the last decade, as capital expenditure surged from Rs 2 lakh crore in 2014-15 to Rs 11.21 lakh crore in 2025-26 — a significant six times increase towards the 'Viksit Bharat' goal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday.

Allocation for capital expenditure is at its highest-ever at Rs 11.21 lakh crore during FY2026.

“India’s Infrastructure has seen rapid progress in the last decade under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” FM Sitharaman said in a post on X.

“A leap of more than 860 per cent in budget allocation for road transport to Rs 3+ lakh crore. Four times surge in Metro Rail Network from just 248 KM in 2014 to 1011 KM in 2025,” the minister further informed.

Finance Minister further stated that From Atal Tunnel to Chenab Bridge, India’s engineering feats are transforming its landscape.

The Nifty 50 and Sensex opened almost flat on Wednesday, as buying was seen in sectors like oil and gas and metal, while FMCG and PSU Bank were trading in the red.

Sensex was up 59 points at around 82,451 while Nifty was up 18.55 points at 25,122 in the early trade.

On the National Stock Exchange, 11 sectoral indices advanced, two declined, and two remained flat out of 15 (around 9.25 am). The NSE Nifty Media rose the most.

JSW Steel, Cipla, NTPC and Tech Mahindra were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were Grasim Industries, Shriram Finance, Asian Paints, L&T, Titan Company. BSE Midcap and smallcap index up 0.3 percent each.

According to analysts, market is likely to continue in the consolidation range with a slight upward bias.

The World Bank on Tuesday kept India's economic growth projection at 6.3 per cent for FY 2025-26, as the country remains the fastest growing economy globally.

"In the next two fiscal years, starting in FY2026/27, growth is expected to recover to 6.6 per cent a year, on average, partly supported by robust services activity contributing to a pickup in exports," said the World Bank in its ‘Global Economic Prospects’ report.

In India, growth moderated in FY2024/25 (April 2024 to March 2025), partly reflecting a deceleration in industrial output growth.

Gold ETFs recorded a net inflow of Rs 291.91 crore in May 2025, marking an improvement from the marginal outflow of Rs 5.82 crore in April, according to the AMFI data.

“Flows into the category had remained muted over the past two months, following modest outflows in March as well. The renewed traction in May signals a gradual return of investor interest, likely driven by resilient gold prices and sustained global uncertainties that reinforce gold’s appeal as a strategic hedge,” said Nehal Meshram, Senior Analyst–Manager Research, Morningstar Investment Research India.

The uptick also shows that investors are regaining confidence in gold, as it continues to offer stability amid mixed signals from equity and bond markets.

Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) inflows reached an all-time high of Rs 26,688 crore in May, from Rs 26,632 crore in April, according to data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) on Tuesday.

The highest-ever inflow of SIP shows that people are investing in mutual funds from a long-term perspective.

According to the AMFI data, the number of contributing SIP accounts increased to 8.56 crore in May, from 8.38 crore in the previous month.

"Investor preferences are evolving. There’s a clear lean toward equity and hybrid funds, driven by long-term growth outlooks and a cautious stance on debt. Retail participation is also surging. The mutual fund revolution is becoming mainstream," said Narender Singh, smallcase Manager and Founder of Growth Investing.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has transformed into an emerging defence exporter, strengthening national security and becoming a trusted partner in global peace.

“India’s defence sector has undergone a major transformation in the last decade. India's defence exports have grown by over 1,100% in the last decade from ₹1,941 crore in 2014 to an all-time high of ₹23,662 crore in 2024. The country now exports military hardware to over 100 countries,” the Finance Minister said in a statement on X.

She underscored that 75 per cent of the defence capital acquisition budget has been earmarked for domestic production in the financial year 2025-26.

The Finance Minister further pointed out that over 5,000 items have been added to the defence indigenisation lists as part of the government’s Aatmanirbharta campaign.

Indian corporates are projected to double their capital spending to $800 billion-$850 billion over the next five years, which will be largely financed by operating cash flows and facilitated by ample domestic funding options, said an S&P Global Ratings report on Tuesday.

Barring execution mistakes or negative macro changes, these investments should boost business scale without driving up leverage, the report noted.

“Corporate India is chasing growth opportunities. In our view, Indian companies are well positioned for a growth run. Balance sheets are the leanest they've been in years. Companies are investing to meet demand underpinned by favourable government policies and a positive economic outlook,” according to the credit rating agency.

Successful execution of plans would enlarge their operational scale, providing lasting cost benefits and business efficiencies.

The RBI monetary policy committee's (MPC) decision to go for a relatively mammoth cut, while changing the stance to neutral, should not be confused with a pause on future rate cuts trajectory in the medium term, but rather a semblance of adopting flexible manoeuvrability on part of a conscious regulator to diligently perform a new troika, a State Bank of India (SBI) Research report said on Tuesday.

The Central Bank aims to manage the yield curve and ensure adequate liquidity in the ecosystem, while renewing the pledge to keep growth sacrosanct, mindful of inflationary concerns and checkmating any bubbles formation, said Dr. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Advisor, SBI.

“The current focus of RBI is to support the momentum in capital formation for more durable growth,” Dr Ghosh mentioned.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said he held insightful conversations with leading business leaders in Switzerland on exciting opportunities, partnerships, and new avenues for trade and investment between both the nations.

In a post on social media platform X, the minister said he spent an engaging evening with Indian business delegates.

“Held insightful conversations on exciting opportunities, partnerships, and new avenues for trade and investment between India and Switzerland, emerging from the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement,” he noted.

Goyal on Monday commenced his official visit to Switzerland as part of a five-day tour during which, he will also visit Sweden to further strengthen trade ties.