War Financial News

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Mint that their luxury brands, which also include home goods brand Jay Strongwater, have seen a clear uptick in the last one month."March emerged as the strongest it has been in the last seven years, and sales rose strongly after a brief dip in February, with overall conversion ratios improving," Kataria said. If the current geopolitical tensions persist and the West Asia war continues, more NRIs (non-resident Indians) could move back to India while residents defer overseas travel, boosting domestic luxury spending.

Mint explores.While addressing Parliament on the West Asia war on 23 March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted that ethanol blending in petrol went up from just 1-1.5% a decade back to 20% currently.Ethanol, a biofuel made from agricultural crops, is now replacing about 45 million barrels of imported crude oil every year (total imports in FY25 were about 1803 million barrels).As per the petroleum ministry, ethanol blending in petrol has saved India ₹1.44 trillion (in cost of imported fuel) between November 2014 and July 2025. The ministry also estimates that the programme has led to CO2 emission reductions, equivalent to planting 300 million trees.

₹6–7 until recently, has now climbed to ₹11–12 due to a PP shortage.Due to the shortage, per tonne cost of cement will increase by roughly ₹60–80, considering 20 bags of 50 kg each per tonne, said Sourav Mitra, partner, Oil and Gas, Grant Thornton Bharat.At the heart of the issue is polypropylene (PP), used to produce woven cement bags. Refineries in the Gulf region are increasingly diverting feedstock such as propane and butane toward liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) production amid supply uncertainties, tightening PP availability.Bag manufacturers are currently receiving only about 60–70% of their contracted PP chip supplies, according to a Motilal Oswal report dated 18 March.

Mystery shrouds the prospect of official talks between the US and Iran to stop the war in West Asia, but reports have emerged of feelers from America in the shape of a 15-point ceasefire plan sent via Pakistan.The US reportedly wants Iran’s nuclear facilities dismantled, stockpile of enriched uranium handed over, nuclear-weapon ambitions renounced and missile threat capped, plus the Strait of Hormuz opened and more, all in lieu of relief from bombs and sanctions.Iran recently reiterated its right to enrich uranium while asking for reparations and a no-aggression commitment as conditions to stop its attacks. To this list, it later added a closure of all US military bases in the region and formal control over the Strait of Hormuz.

war in West Asia intensifies, oil is climbing, risk appetite is wobbling, and governments are quietly stepping up defence spending. If past conflicts are any guide, prolonged uncertainty doesn’t just rattle markets, it accelerates military budgets.That shift tends to outlast the headlines.

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It has been almost six decades since American writer Joan Didion wrote a devastating critique of the hippie counterculture movement after months of reporting in San Francisco. She painted a picture of a community morally adrift and in the thrall of LSD.

Investors have grown accustomed to the idea that US President Donald Trump-induced shocks rarely last long, because, as the popular TACO acronym tells us, ‘Trump Always Chickens Out.’ But the American president’s decision to join Israel in starting a war with Iran has opened a geopolitical and macroeconomic Pandora’s box that may make a tidy walk-back impossible. Under the surface, financial markets are starting to take note.The ‘TACO regime’ in American stocks—under which every selloff was a buying opportunity—may be over. That thesis will now get a test after Trump postponed threatened strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure and power plants for five days, pending the outcome of what he said were talks with Iran to end the war.

war in West Asia has brought to light the dependence on imported fuels.India imports most of its crude oil and a majority of its natural gas requirement. This has caused anxiety among consumers about disruptions in cooking fuel.

In every crisis lies an opportunity, it is said. At the very least, today’s hydrocarbon crisis should re-open India’s forlorn debate on pushing oil and gas into a closer market embrace as a sector. Ever since we ran into supply snarls that began with yet another war in West Asia, shock-absorbers have been in focus, along with our import dependence.To be sure, this is no ordinary shock.

With the war in West Asia stretching on, estimates of its economic damage have begun to emerge. On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs slashed its outlook on India’s economic growth to 5.9% in 2026 from 7% before the war started. This is substantial, especially given the uncertainty over how long global hydrocarbon markets will stay roiled; the longer they do, the greater the hit.

, traders say, can be chalked up to WTI’s location, far from where the oil is needed in Asia. Its lower price also reflects the higher shipping costs required to get it to Asian buyers, as well as angst that the U.S.

₹4,000-crore initial public offering (IPO) that was originally scheduled for March, amid market volatility, according to two people familiar with the matter.Bagmane had received regulatory approval for the draft offer document it filed last December. The company had begun roadshows for investors and analysts earlier this month in the run-up to the IPO.“The company was scheduled to file the updated offer document (UoD) in early March, and once the approval came in, planned to launch the public offering in March itself.

Mint has reviewed the correspondence.Such cookstoves are used in African countries such as Nigeria and Ethiopia and elsewhere in Brazil.The push by ISMA and GEMA comes in the backdrop of India’s ethanol makers also lobbying the government for higher ethanol blends in vehicle fuels and to find more use-cases for the country’s surplus ethanol production, as reported by Mint earlier. They have been seeking incentives for flex-fuel vehicles which run on very high ethanol blending, and higher procurement of ethanol by oil marketing companies.

The juxtaposition of the Russia-Ukraine war and unfolding US-Israel-Iran war offers a compelling window to the evolving character of contemporary warfare. One is a protracted, grinding contest of endurance; the other, a sharp demonstration of rapid, multi-domain coercion. Yet, taken together, they underline a common truth: technological change has not simplified war, it has made it more complex, more diffuse and less predictable.

crude prices. That is primarily why ONGC shares have not rallied like their global peers since February-end when the ongoing West Asia conflict began.Of course, some don’t expect any new windfall tax. For instance, CLSA has raised ONGC stock’s target price to ₹415 apiece, almost 60% higher than current levels.

Kalyan Jewellers, Joyalukkas and Jos Alukkas, are not buying fresh inventory and are feeling the heat of the crisis, according to the same people.Titan and Kalyan Jewellers declined to comment to Mint's queries. Queries mailed to Joyalukkas and Jos Alukkas did not elicit a response until press time.This setback amid the escalating war between the US-Israel and Iran comes at a crucial juncture, as Titan's Gulf business is in a turnaround phase.In the company's post-acquisition call, chief financial officer Ashok Sonthalia had said 2025 would be a “restructuring year”, with the business expected to remain earnings-dilutive until 2027, and turn positive only from 2028, making any delay more consequential.According to Titan's December earnings call, it has completed acquisition of a 67% stake in Dubai-based Damas Jewellery, marking the closure of the $283 million deal and indicating that all required regulatory approvals have been secured.

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is one of the products facing a global supply crunch today, thanks to the Iran war. The result is more than a cooking gas shortage in India. In order to prioritize the availability of cooking gas for homes, the government reduced supplies to commercial establishments.

A silver lining seems to have appeared around the clouds of war over West Asia. Donald Trump put off by five days the US threat of bombing Iran’s energy infrastructure just hours before his 48-hour deadline was to expire for Iranian forces to open the Strait of Hormuz.The US President cited “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of hostilities in the Middle East” between the US and Iran over the past two days as the reason for his decision.

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