Alcoholic beverage makers have sought a reasonable price hike from State governments to deal with pressures arising out of rising can and bottle costs due to supply chain disruptions triggered by the West Asia crisis.

Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) and the Brewers Association of India (BAI) have urged states to allow revisions of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), wine and beer products and provide interim relief measures to help manufacturers cope with rising production costs.

BAI has asked State governments to allow suppliers a price increase of 15-20% to partially offset the impact of rising input costs.

In letters sent to State governments, BAI Director General Vinod Giri said the conflict has triggered a sharp increase in input costs across categories.

“Glass bottle prices have risen by around 20%, paper cartons have increased by almost 100%, and materials such as Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) and adhesives have become costlier by 20-25% ,” Mr. Giri said.

Severe shortage of commercial LNG supply has put glass bottle manufacturers under significant strain, and they too face partial or full shutdowns.

“Supply of glass and cans may be severely strained in the coming months and even years,” BAI said.

Moreover, the beer industry, which is also facing issues with the supply of cans, sees it prolonging due to rising aluminium costs.

“Aluminium supplies from the Middle East have been badly hit, and suppliers have warned that prolonged disruption risks not only output but also a shutdown of manufacturing plants,” said Mr. Giri.

Freight and logistics costs have also increased by around 10%, while the depreciation of the Rupee against the U.S. dollar has further pushed up import costs, he added.

As an interim relief measure, BAI has also sought a reduction in manufacturing levies by around ₹3-5 per bulk litre to create a cushion against rising costs.

BAI represents leading players from the brewing industry — United Breweries, AB InBev and Carlsberg — which together account for around 85% of the beer sold in the country.

CIABC, which represents India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and domestic wine makers, has asked various state governments to revise the ex-distillery/winery price (EDP/EWP) in its representations.

CIABC Director General Anant S. Iyer said the volatile geopolitical situation in the Middle East, which accounts for nearly 20% of global crude oil supplies and is a key supply chain hub for India, has intensified inflationary pressures across the industry. According to the industry body, glass manufacturing units are under severe stress due to restrictions in gas supply to the Firozabad glass manufacturing hub, forcing vendors to shift towards costlier spot LNG or LPG.

“Gas supply to the Firozabad hub is being restricted to 60% of contracted quantity, including risk of closure,” CIABS said in its letter to States.

Glass manufacturers have already increased prices by 10-20%, while costs of Polyethene Terephthalate (PET) and aseptic packaging materials have also surged, increasing the overall cost of production for manufacturers, it added.

CIABC further said Ocean freight rates have also surged, with shipping carriers imposing emergency and conflict surcharges for routes connected to West Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Israel said on Thursday (May 7, 2026) it had killed a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in an airstrike on Beirut a day earlier, the first Israeli attack ​on the Lebanese capital since a ceasefire agreed last month.

The Israeli military said the commander was killed ‌when Israel struck the southern suburbs of Beirut. There was no immediate confirmation from ​Hezbollah. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz announced the ⁠attack in a joint statement on Wednesday (May 6, 2026).

The strike has raised pressure on the ceasefire that had halted Israeli attacks on Beirut, even as Israeli forces have remained deployed in areas south of the Litani River and continued ‌to carry out strikes in southern Lebanon.

Iran ally Hezbollah has responded to those strikes by firing and launching armed drones towards Israeli soldiers.

The Lebanon ceasefire ‌has underpinned a broader truce in the wider Iran war, with a halt to ‌Israeli ⁠strikes in Lebanon being a key Iranian demand in Tehran’s negotiations with Washington.

Israel ⁠earlier on Wednesday (May 6, 2026) called for residents to evacuate several villages north of the Litani River, which could represent an expansion of Israel’s zone of action.

Talks between Israel and Lebanon have continued, but have largely been at the ambassador ​level.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said ‌on Wednesday (May 6, 2026) that it was premature to talk of any high-level meeting between Lebanon and Israel.

High level meetings premature

Prime Minister Salam, in comments reported by Lebanon’s National News Agency on Wednesday (May 6, 2026), said shoring up a ceasefire would be the basis for any new negotiations between Lebanese and ‌Israeli government envoys in Washington.

Washington last month hosted two meetings between the Israeli and Lebanese ​ambassadors to the United States. Hezbollah strongly objects to the contacts.

Since Hezbollah triggered the war by opening fire in support of Iran on March 2, ⁠the Lebanese administration led by Mr. Salam and President Joseph Aoun has initiated Beirut’s highest-level contacts with Israel in decades, reflecting deep divisions between the Shi’ite Muslim group and its Lebanese opponents.

Announcing a three-week ‌extension of the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire on April 23, U.S. President Donald Trump said he looked forward to hosting Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Aoun in the near future, and that he saw “a great chance” the countries would reach a peace deal this year.

Trading blows

Israel has carved out a self-declared security zone extending as deep as 10 km (6 miles) into southern Lebanon, saying it aims to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah militants embedded in civilian areas.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday (May 6, 2026) an ‌Israeli airstrike killed four people, including two women and an elderly man in the town of Zelaya in southern ​Lebanon.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched explosive drones and rockets towards Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, injuring two Israeli soldiers.

It also said the Israeli air ⁠force intercepted a hostile aircraft before it crossed into Israel, and announced strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in ⁠several areas in Lebanon.

More than 2,700 people have been killed in the war in Lebanon since March 2, the Health Ministry says.

The Israeli military says Hezbollah has ‌fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel since March 2. Israel has announced 17 soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon, along with two civilians in northern Israel. 

The conflict in West Asia has demonstrated the speed with which geopolitical shocks have been transmitted to India’s domestic economy. The head of the International Energy Agency has described the current geoeconomic crisis as more severe than the combined shocks of 1973, 1979 and 2022.

The price of Brent crude oil rose to $109.03 per barrel after hitting highs of around $120 during the conflict. At a domestic level, India is projected to see its economy slow from 7.4% growth in FY26 to 6.5% in FY27 with a projected increase in inflation from 2.3% to 4.4% due to the impact of disruptions observed in the energy supply chains.

The government on Thursday (April 30, 2026) said domestic urea production has reached 37.49 lakh tonnes in March-April, nearly matching last year’s levels despite the West Asia crisis, while securing 37 lakh tonnes of imported urea to meet the shortfall ahead of the Kharif season.

Total domestic fertiliser production stood at 62.37 lakh tonnes during March-April, while imports were at 15.39 lakh tonnes.

The United States is pressing ahead with plans for an international coalition to open the Strait ‌of Hormuz, according to a State Department cable seen by Reuters, as oil prices surge on fears of ​lengthy disruptions to global fuel supplies.

Two months into the war that started with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, the ⁠vital sea channel remains closed, choking off 20% of the world’s supplies of oil and gas. That has sent global energy prices surging and heightened concerns about the risks of an economic downturn.

A 10-day ceasefire deal agreed between Lebanon and Israel took effect on Thursday (April 16, 2026), as U.S. President Donald Trump said he was trying to set up the first-ever meeting between the leaders of the two countries.

The truce, which Mr. Trump said would begin at midnight local time in Lebanon and Israel (2100 GMT), comes as Washington steps up efforts to reach a deal to end the war with Iran, with Tehran insisting a Lebanon truce must be part of any agreement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday (April 15, 2026) said Israel and the U.S. share “identical goals” in the ongoing conflict with Iran.

The Israeli Prime Minister said the U.S. has been keeping Israel updated on its contacts with Iran and reiterated that both nations seek the removal of enriched material, an end to Iran’s enrichment capabilities, and the reopening of key maritime routes.

India will host Foreign Ministers-level meeting of the BRICS grouping in May, official sources have confirmed. The meeting will be the first occasion when officials of Iran and the United Arab Emirates will be “face to face” since the conflict began with the U.S.-Israel attacking Iran on February 28, 2026.

Diplomatic sources and officials have also confirmed that India is on track to host the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting in the last week of May. The confirmation has come days after U.S. Ambassador Sergio Gor said on a social media post that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit India “next month”, i.e. in May.

Top-level peace talks between the United States and Iran entered a second day early Sunday (April 12, 2026), as Washington piled pressure by saying it had sent minesweeping ships through the vital Strait of Hormuz.

In the Pakistani capital Islamabad, Vice President J.D. Vance on Saturday (April 11, 2026) became the highest-ranking American to meet directly with Iranian officials since the 1979 Islamic revolution, days after the United States and Israel halted their war that had plunged West Asia and global economy into tumult.

In the early hours of Saturday (April 11, 2026), an Iranian delegation, led by the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, reached Islamabad and was welcomed by Field Marshal Asim Munir and Foreign Minister Mohammed Ishaq Dar at the airport. They were followed by the arrival of the U.S. negotiating team, led by Vice President J.D. Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump. The mediated talks between the U.S. and Iran are aimed at cementing a permanent ceasefire, following the two-week ceasefire declared earlier last week.

On March 24, The New York Times reported that the U.S. had sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war, more than three weeks after the U.S., along with Israel, had started bombing the country. The publication said that the plan was handed over to the Iranian side by Pakistan’s Gen. Munir. It is believed that he had been in contact with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the powerful paramilitary force of Iran that emerged more powerful in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated by a U.S.-Israeli strike.