India’s gold imports continue to be in focus. After the gold import duty hike, the government has tightened import norms further. It capped duty-free imports at 100 kg. Market participants believe that stricter regulations would help curb arbitrage trading and ease forex pressure. According to Kotak, it is a ‘plumbing fix’ to cut down misuse.

“The move is expected to curb excessive and unregulated gold inflows by imposing a clear quantitative cap, helping authorities manage demand efficiently. It may also ease pressure on foreign exchange reserves, especially amid rising crude oil import costs, “ said Hareesh V, Head of Commodity Research at Geojit Investments.

Despite a significant hike in import duties to 15 per cent, gold and silver are paradoxically trading at substantial discounts in the Indian domestic market, driven by importers offloading stock acquired under the previous, lower duty regime.


Gold and silver prices have surged in the domestic market to reflect the sharp increase in landed costs after the government more than doubled import duties on the two precious metals to 15 per cent.

Yet the rise in prices has also been accompanied by significantly deeper discounts.

The yellow metal was quoted at a discount of $200 an ounce on Wednesday, roughly Rs 6,000 per 10 grams.

By Thursday, the discount in the Mumbai market had narrowed slightly to $145 an ounce, or around Rs 4,470 per 10 grams, taking the price of pure gold to Rs 1,61,349 per 10 grams.

Silver, too, traded at deep discounts.

India has prohibited the export of raw, white and refined sugar till September 30, in a move to stabilise domestic prices amid tightening supply conditions.

The world’s second largest sugar producer amended the export policy of sugar to “prohibited” from “restricted” in a notification issued Wednesday.

“This prohibition is not applicable to Sugar being exported under: EU and USA under CXL (Codex Maximum Residue Limit) and TRQ (Tariff Rate Quota) quota, Advance Authorization Scheme, Government-to-Government exports, and consignments already in physical export pipeline,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said.

Global rice production is set to decline for the first time in a decade, tightening supplies of one of the world’s major food staples.
Output in the coming 2026-27 season is seen at about 538 million tons, the first decrease in 11 years, the United States Department of Agriculture said in a global crop report on Tuesday. The largest declines are seen in India, Myanmar and the US, where the harvest is seen falling 15% from last year as farmers plant less. Combined with record consumption and trade, that will curb global stockpiles.

While the USDA didn’t elaborate on the reason, the fall comes as a spike in fertilizer and energy costs — driven by the war in Iran — are disrupting operations for farmers in Asia. Some growers are considering skipping plantings of the new crop, which is known for being fertilizer-intensive grain.

The Indian government has sharply increased customs duties on gold and silver to 15% from 6%, and platinum imports to 15.4% from 6.4%, as policymakers seek to contain pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves and external account during the ongoing West Asia conflict.

Consequential changes have also been made to related products including gold and silver dore, coins and findings.

The government has imposed a 10% basic customs duty along with a 5% Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) on gold and silver imports, taking the effective import tax to 15%.

A source said the increase in customs duty on precious metals, including gold, gold dore, silver, silver dore and platinum, was introduced as a policy measure aimed at safeguarding macroeconomic stability, conserving foreign exchange and moderating non-essential imports during a period of heightened global uncertainty linked to the West Asia crisis.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed for austerity measures in view of the tensions in West Asia, India's rising gold imports are drawing attention.

Emphasising that the Centre is trying to shield people from the adverse impact of the conflict in West Asia, Modi on Sunday called for judicious use of fuel, postponement of gold purchases and foreign travel, among other measures, to strengthen the economy.

Here are a few questions and answers to understand gold imports in India.

IMPORT DATA:
India's gold imports rose over 24 per cent to an all time high of USD 71.98 billion in 2025-26. It was USD 58 billion in 2024-25, USD 45.54 billion in 2023-24, USD 35 billion in 2022-23, USD 46.14 billion in 2021-22, USD 34.62 billion in 2020-21, and USD 28.2 billion in 2019-20.

In volume terms, however, it dipped 4.76 per cent to 721.03 tonnes in 2025-26 from 757.09 tonnes in 2024-25. It was 795.2 tonnes in 2023-24 and 678.3 tonnes in 2022-23.

The ongoing Middle East crisis is expected to keep crude oil prices elevated for an extended period, with benchmark prices averaging USD 96 per barrel in 2026 and remaining around USD 80 per barrel in 2027, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB) Chief Economist Albert Park.

“With a higher oil price expectation, we actually have it as USD 96 per barrel as average for 2026 as per the new reference scenario. It should stay elevated at USD 80 per barrel in 2027. So, our idea is that the oil prices are likely to stay higher for longer,” Park told PTI in an interview.


He added that futures markets are already reflecting expectations of sustained high prices next year, while current spot prices continue to carry a premium due to supply shortages.

With the aim of making India self-reliant in the cotton sector and increasing cotton production, the Cabinet on Tuesday approved Rs 5659.22 crore for “Mission for Cotton Productivity” to address bottlenecks, declining growth, and quality concerns that have long plagued the sector from achieving its true potential.

According to a PIB release, the mission aligns with the government's 5F vision (Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign). “The Mission focuses on enhancing cotton productivity through development of High yielding variety (HYV) seeds resistant to disease and pests, scaling up of existing and latest crop production technologies through states governments, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) through large-scale promotion and adoption of the latest crop production technologies, ensures least contaminant cotton supply to industry, and promotes high-quality cotton exports,” the release stated. It is also expected to reduce dependency on imported cotton and save foreign exchange.

The government's wheat and rice reserves held in Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns rose to 604.02 lakh tonnes as of April 1, nearly three times the mandatory buffer requirement of 210.40 lakh tonnes, official data showed.

Rice stocks stood at 386.10 lakh tonnes, well above the buffer norm of 135.80 lakh tonnes, while wheat reserves were at 217.92 lakh tonnes against the required 74.60 lakh tonnes.

Buffer norms are revised quarterly - the current figures apply from April 1, with the next revision due on July 1.

The government maintains buffer stocks of wheat and rice to ensure adequate supply for beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (PDS) and other food welfare schemes.

India has no plans to curb sugar exports for now, despite lower output, as stable prices suggest weaker demand has offset some of the production shortfall, two government sources said on Wednesday.

India, the world's biggest sugar exporter after Brazil, allowed mills to export 1.59 million metric tons, betting output would exceed domestic demand. But production is now expected to lag consumption for a second consecutive year as cane yields weaken in major growing regions.

Forecasts that El Nino weather conditions could disrupt this year's monsoon have also raised the risk that next season's output falls below initial estimates.

Oil prices extended declines on Wednesday, slumping to two-week lows after Axios reported that Washington believed it was close to a one-page framework agreement with Iran to end the war.

Brent crude futures fell $6.70, or 6.1%, to $103.17 a barrel by 0856 GMT after touching their lowest in almost two weeks. U.S. West Texas Intermediate lost $6.77, or 6.6%, to $95.50.

Both benchmarks were on track for their biggest daily declines in both percentage and absolute terms since mid-April, having shed about 4% in the previous session.

The U.S. expects Iranian responses on several key points in the next 48 hours, Axios reported. Though nothing has yet been agreed, the report said this was the closest the parties have come to an agreement since the war began.

Iran had said earlier that it would only accept a fair and comprehensive agreement.

The U.S. military said on Monday that it destroyed several Iranian small boats as part of efforts to help stranded ships to exit the Strait of Hormuz.

India's palm oil imports fell 27% to a one-year low in April, as sluggish demand from institutional buyers and a recent price rally that eroded its discount to rival oils prompted refiners to curb purchases, five dealers said. Lower imports by the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils could increase stocks in top producers Indonesia and Malaysia and weigh on benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures.

Palm oil imports fell to 505,000 metric tons in April, the lowest since April 2025, down from 689,462 tons in March, per dealer estimates. Soyoil imports rose 24% month-on-month in April to 355,000 tons, the highest in four months, while sunflower oil shipments more than doubled to 435,000 tons, the highest in 22 months.

OPEC+ is set to agree on Sunday a modest oil output hike, sources said, but the increase will remain largely on paper as long as the U.S.-Iran war continues to disrupt Gulf oil supplies.

Seven OPEC+ countries have agreed in principle to raise oil output targets by about 188,000 barrels per day in June, the third consecutive monthly increase, the sources said.

The move is designed to show the group is ready to raise supplies once the war stops. It is also pressing on with plans to raise output targets despite the departure of the United Arab Emirates from the group this week, sources said.

Rice supply is expected to fall this year as farmers cut planting acreage across Asia because of fertiliser shortages and soaring fuel costs from the Iran war, with an emerging El Nino also set to squeeze output of the world's most consumed staple.

Rice is central to global food security, and even modest supply disruptions can ripple through countries, lifting prices and straining household budgets, particularly among price-sensitive consumers in Asia and Africa. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization in April forecast rice output would expand by 2% to a record high in 2025/26.

The government is staring at hugely surplus wheat stocks after a five-year, just one month of commencement of procurement of grain for the 2026-27 marketing season (April-June) from farmers.

Sources said that as on May 1, the central pool has wheat stocks of around 36 million tonne (MT), over three times the buffer of 7.46 MT for April 1. The stock exceeded the buffer requirement of 27.58 MT on July 1. The current stock with the government agencies, is highest since May 1, 2021. Higher procurement and the sluggish sales of wheat under the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) open market sale scheme in FY26 have also contributed to higher stocks.

Sources said with another 8 to 10 MT procurement of grain by the agencies is projected in the current marketing season, stocks are likely to swell further in coming weeks.

ndian rice export prices fell this week due to weak demand and as the rupee slipped to a record low, while neighbouring Bangladesh faced rising flood risks that threatened its summer harvest.

India's 5% broken parboiled variety was quoted this week at $337-$344 per ton, down from last week's $344-$350. Indian 5% broken white rice was priced at $336-$340 per ton.

"Demand from African countries remains weak due to higher freight rates. Indian sellers are cutting prices, factoring in the rupee's decline, to attract buyers," a Kolkata-based trader said.

Last year was a major step forward in the clean energy revolution, with installations of renewable sources such as solar panels and wind turbines hitting record highs not only in the developed world, but in emerging economies too.
But then came the war in Iran, a global curve ball that’s bound to change our collective future in unpredictable ways. In the face of yet another energy crisis — just four years after the one sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — the question of whether clean energy’s upward trajectory will be among the disruptions is an urgent one.

While these types of shocks strengthen the case for renewables, which offer both secure supply and stable prices, they also tend to create fiscal conditions — rising inflation, higher interest rates, supply chain disruptions — that aren’t exactly conducive to the investment required to fund new clean energy projects.

India is likely to export only 7.5 to 8 lakh tonnes of sugar in the current 2025-26 marketing season (October-September) due to unfavourable global price parity, according to a senior government official.

The world's second-largest sugar producer keeps exports under government control through quotas distributed proportionally among mills.

For 2025-26, the Food Ministry initially allowed 1.5 million tonnes in exports, then opened an additional 500,000-tonnes pool, of which only 87,587 tonnes were approved.

"The full season physical shipments would likely land around 7.5-8 lakh tonnes. There is no parity in global prices for exports to be undertaken at present," the official said.

As the United Arab Emirates’s exit from OPEC officially takes effect, experts say the United States government will welcome the move for its potential to curb the oil-producing cartel’s pricing power.

While the UAE’s withdrawal, which went into effect on Friday, has been long rumoured, the timing was unexpected.

“The exit was a surprise in timing (at least to me), but in some ways has been brewing for some time,” wrote Rachel Ziemba, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security – a US think tank.

“It prompts the question whether there will be more competition than cooperation in the region and what the governance of the energy markets will look like.”

India’s gold demand rose 10% year-on-year to 151 tonnes in the first quarter of 2026. Investment buying offset a sharp drop in jewellery consumption amid elevated prices, according to the World Gold Council (WGC).

Great Shift
In its Gold Demand Trends report—published with a sharper India focus for the first time—the WGC said jewellery demand fell 19% to 66.1 tonnes, the lowest since the Covid period. In contrast, investment demand surged: bar-and-coin buying rose 34% to 62.3 tonnes, while gold ETF (exchange traded funds) inflows jumped 197% to 19.9 tonnes, marking the strongest quarterly addition on record.