BENGALURU, July 6 (Reuters) - Indian shares gained on Tuesday, as airlines and auto stocks helped outweigh losses in Reliance Industries, with investors taking hope from a drop in COVID-19 infections in the country. By 0520 GMT, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.22% at 15,868.80 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.22% to 52,952.10. Airline stocks jumped after the country"s aviation ministry here allowed increasing capacity on domestic flights to 65% till July-end from 50% earlier. Shares of IndiGo’s parent InterGlobe Aviation rose 1.8%, while SpiceJet climbed 2.8%. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries dropped 0.8%, and was set to fall after two days of gains. “Retail investors’ money is rushing into mid-caps and small-caps even on days when the market pauses... People have largely understood that the pandemic cannot cause a lasting economic depression,” said Amar Ambani, senior president and head of research, institutional equities, at Yes Securities in Mumbai. “With the June-quarter earnings kicking off, IT companies remain resilient and poised for strong growth”, he said. India reported 34,703 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, marking a drop for a sixth consecutive day. The Nifty Auto index added 0.34%, aided by Jaguar Land Rover parent Tata Motors. The automaker’s shares were up 2.2% on the company’s plans to raise prices of its passenger vehicle range due to higher input costs. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation climbed 2.4% after an uptick in oil prices as OPEC+ nations called off talks on output levels on Monday. Indian markets hovered near record highs, with the broader NSE index less than 50 points away from its all-time high. The index, which posted a weekly loss of 0.87% last week, had scaled a peak last month. Reporting by Shivani Singh in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.