1. Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to defer gold purchases for a year as part of a broader national effort to conserve foreign exchange, the government on Wednesday sharply increased import duty on precious metals amid concerns over the external sector and the impact of the West Asia crisis on India’s import bill.
2. In a move seen as aimed at stabilising the domestic market, the Government on Thursday imposed an immediate ban on sugar exports, effective until September 30, 2026. The intervention comes at a critical juncture as global sugar prices show signs of a rebound, which had begun to make Indian exports increasingly attractive.
3. In an apparent move to correct price distortions in certain crops as flagged by the Economic Survey, the Union government announced a ₹10/quintal hike in minimum support price (MSP) of maize and a modest 3 per cent rise in paddy MSP for kharif 2026. The MSP for pulses (except moong), oilseeds and nutri-cereal crops has been increased by 4-9 per cent compared with a year ago.
4. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday said that the monsoon will hit the Kerala coast on May 26, which is six days earlier than its normal schedule day of June 1 in the mainland. IMD also said that the southwest monsoon is very likely to advance into the South Andaman Sea, some parts of the Southeast Bay of Bengal and the Nicobar Islands on May 16, against the normal May 20.
5. Net holdings in physically-backed gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) dropped by nearly 80 per cent between the start of the year and May 8, with outflows continuing for the third week in a row, data from the World Gold Council (WGC) showed.
Published on May 17, 2026