India news: Gas price hiked in Delhi NCR amid Iran fallout

India and Sweden have announced a strategic partnership deal that will double bilateral trade and investment over the coming five years.

The deal was announced on Sunday night as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson hosted his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

At a press conference with Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Kristersson said the deal follows the free trade agreement that the EU and India signed in January this year.

"We have a joint ambition to double our bilateral trade and investments within five years with current speed," the Swedish leader said, adding that he believes that target "could become reality even sooner."

Modi said the partnership would allow the two countries to "move forward on key pillars such as green transition, defense, emerging technologies, and people-to-people ties."

Von der Leyen said the EU-India agreement was due to be signed by the end of the year.

"But trade is only half of the equation," the EU chief said. "Our next step must be to deliver an investment agreement. And this is the missing piece of the puzzle in our reinforced economic cooperation, especially in a world where supply chains are being reshaped and economic security challenges us as never before."

"Deepening our investment ties will help us to de-risk and to diversify," said von der Leyen.

Modi, who visited the Netherlands prior to his arrival in Sweden, will next travel to Norway on Monday and Tuesday, before making the last stop of his tour in Italy.

An Indian worker was killed, and three others were injured in the Moscow region in Russia on Sunday, as Ukraine unleashed one of its largest drone attacks on the rival nation.

"The embassy expresses its sincere condolences to the family of the deceased and is doing everything possible to provide the necessary assistance to the victims, closely cooperating with the company's management and local authorities," the Indian Embassy in Russia said on X. 

 

A wave of almost 600 Ukrainian drones attacked several regions in Russia overnight, killing four people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said earlier in the day. 

Russian air defenses shot down 556 drones, as per the country's defense ministry, with another 30 drones intercepted after dawn. 

In Russia's capital region, "a woman was killed as a result of a UAV hitting a private house," governor Andrey Vorobyov posted on Telegram, adding that the early morning attack also claimed the lives of two men.

About 15,000 Indians are living in Russia, according to a document by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

India and the Netherlands have decided to elevate their diplomatic relationship to that of a "strategic partnership" after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, at The Hague.

"There has been significant progress in India-Netherlands ties in last one decade," Modi said in his televised opening remarks during the talks Jetten on Saturday.

"We need to take our cooperation in areas of innovation, investment, sustainability and defence to new heights. Under this common vision, we are taking India-Netherlands relations to the level of strategic partnership," Modi said.

The Indian prime minister added that the Netherlands was one of its most important trading partners.

The Netherlands is India's largest export destination in Europe and overall the fourth largest investor with cumulative foreign direct investment of $55.6 billion (€48 billion).

Modi is currently on a five-nation tour which began on May 15 with the UAE. After the Netherlands, he is expected in Sweden, followed by Norway and Italy. 

India's central bank and government are scrambling to salvage a sinking rupee as surging oil prices due to the conflict in the Middle East weigh heavily on the world's sixth-largest economy. 

The rupee has dropped over 5% since the US and Israel conducted strikes on Iran in February, leading to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and raising global oil rates. 

The currency, which was already deteriorating in 2025, is Asia's worst-performing currency in 2026 so far. 

It hit a record low of 96 per $1.  

The weakening rupee has impacted manufacturers and industries that depend on imported raw materials and are now paying a higher price.

India's central bank has already poured billions of dollars into stabilizing the currency, banned speculative trading, and extended a special credit line to oil importers to deal with the shortage of the US dollars.

India's current account deficit has widened as it imports oil at higher prices. With the outflow of the US dollars — the world's primary reserve currency — far exceeding its inflow through exports and foreign remittances, the central bank has significantly depleted its reserves. 

That has only been made worse as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) burned through billions of dollars to defend the rupee.

Government urges austerity measures

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a rare appeal to Indians to adopt austerity measures, which could slow the draining of US dollars. 

He urged households not to buy gold for a year and asked them to conserve fuelby utilizing shared forms of transport and working from home where possible.

Oil and gold are India's most imported goods. 

A massive fire broke out in one of the coaches of the Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express in the central state of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday morning, triggering panic and the evacuation of passengers. 

Luckily, no one was hurt, according to the reports from the officials. 

The fire broke out around 5:15 am IST on Sunday morning (23:45 GMT on Saturday) in an air-conditioned coach which was carrying 68 passengers, news outlet NDTV reported. It also damaged a luggage cart behind the coach. 

Officials are currently investigating the cause of the fire.

Videos uploaded by news channels showed thick plumes of smoke rising into the air from the coach which had been detached. The fire is also reported to have spread to some nearby trees.

Rescued passengers were accomodated in other coaches up till Rajashtan's Kota, where another coach was to be attched, West Central Railway's chief public relations officer Harshit Shrivastava told news agency PTI.

The incident caused delays for several trains traveling that route.

The residents of Delhi and the adjoining National Capital Region (Delhi NCR) will have to pay a higher price for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), widely used by public transport vehicles such as taxis and auto rickshaws. 

The price of CNG rose by Rs 1 on Sunday, meaning consumers in Delhi will have to pay Rs 80.09 per kg (€0.72, $0.83) and those in regions of Noida and Ghaziabad will now pay Rs 88.70 per kg (€0.8, $0.92), most Indian news outlets reported.

Gas retail companies had already increased the price of CNG by Rs 2 on May 15, making Sunday's hike the second in just two days. India's state-run fuel retailers also increased theprice of petrol and diesel on May 15 — the first in four years.

"The fare for our vehicles has not increased, but CNG prices keep rising," one taxi driver told the PTI news agency.

"It is making a big difference for poor people like us. Our demand from the government is that CNG prices should be reduced, and our fares should be increased," he said.

The increasing fuel rates comes due to soaring global crude oil prices. While the government-run oil retailers initially absorbed the shock to keep the pressure off the masses, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government have now signalled deeper economic impact from the persisting conflict in the Middle East.

India's national capital and several states are already promoting austerity measures after Modi appealed for the public to not buy gold for a year and conserve fuelby using public transport and working from home. 

That's because India is facing a significant shortage of US dollars which it uses to pay for its two biggest imports — oil and gold. 

Experts have warned that these hikes in petrol diesel and gas prices may be just the beginning.

Good morning, and welcome back to the weekend Indian news blog!

This is Mahima Kapoor from the New Delhi bureau, once again, geared up to give you the biggest news points of the day. 

It's uncomfortably hot in the Indian capital as the stormy winds and rain have given way to the dry heat more traditional this time of the year. 

While most people enjoy a lazy Sunday morning (not me, of course), the National Capital Region's residents, auto rickshaw and Uber drivers have woken up to another hike in price of gas. That's the second in just two days.

Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive in Sweden today. That's the third of a five-nation tour he is undertaking to shore up trade agreements, defense cooperation and improve energy security. 

Sticks with us as we break things down for you.

Thank you for following our India blog today! 

We are pausing this weekend edition of the blog and will resume again tomorrow with more of what's making headlines in India. Be sure to come back!

In the India Premier League, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat the Gujarat Titans on Saturday. 

Three KKR batsmen hit impressive half centuries, led by New Zealand international Finn Allen's 93 runs off just 35 balls, and Indian 21-year-old Angkrish Raghuvanshi's 82 not out off 44 deliveries.

Australian Cameron Green was also on 52 not out alongside Raghuvanshi when the KKR set an imposing target of 247/2 for Gujarat to chase. 

Three of the Titans also hit half centuries — 85 for Shubman Gill, 57 for Jos Buttler, and 53 not out for Sai Sudharsan — but it wasn't enough. Gujarat finished their 20 overs on 218/4, 29 runs short of the target.

It was Gujarat's first defeat in five games and a blow to the team's battle with Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the top of the IPL standings. 

Kolkata, meanwhile, has found a richer vein of form after a slower start to the season. The KKR have now won four of their last five games, sitting in seventh place on 11 points and hunting down the midtable teams.

Narendra Modi has met with the Prime Minister Rob Jetten and King Willem-Alexander during his visit to the Netherlands. 

He signed a memorandum of understanding "between Tata and ASML for advancing the semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in India" during his talks with Jetten.

Modi said Dutch company ASML would help with "the setting up and scaling of Tata Electronics’ upcoming semiconductor facility in Dholera, Gujarat," his home state. 

But the prime minister dedicated the most time online to hailing the return of Tamil archaeological treasures from Leiden University, celebrating the news in both the English and Tamil languages. 

In what he described as a "joyous moment for every Indian," Modi said that Chola Copper Plates dating to the 11th century would be repatriated to India.

The Chola Dynasty in what's now southern India led a flourishing empire between the 9th and 13th centuries. 

"We in India are immensely proud of the Cholas, their culture and their maritime prowess," Modi said.

India's Foreign Ministry on Saturday said it "categorically" rejected an award from the Court of Arbitration [CoA] of the International Criminal Court (ICC) granted to Pakistan amid the dispute over India suspending the Indus Waters Treaty. 

The court on Friday published an additional award saying Pakistan was entitled to maximum pondage — a technical term for the storage capacity of a dam or reservoir — having deemed last August that India was in breach of international law when it unilaterally suspended the treaty. 

Describing the court as "illegally constituted," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said India's position was unchanged and the "decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance remains in force."

"India categorically rejects the present so-called award, just as it has firmly rejected all prior pronouncements of the illegally constituted CoA," Randhir Jaiswal said. "India has never recognized the establishment of this so-called CoA. Any proceeding, award or decision issued by it is null and void."

The government suspended the 1960 treaty — which had stayed in effect for decades even amid perennially tense ties — in response to a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killled 26 people in April 2025, for which Delhi held Pakistan accountable.

Mounjaro and Ozempic are medicines developed to control blood sugar levels in adults with Type 2 diabetes. Now, they are being used as a fast-track weight-loss solution.

In India's massive wedding economy, appearance is often judged. Experts say such social pressures are one of the top reasons driving this trend.

Health care platform Pharmarack estimates that India's obesity drug market will reach 80 billion rupees ($837 million/€717 million) by 2030.

The government of India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh will offer one-time cash payments to families for having more children, Indian media reported, in efforts to counter a decline in the state's population. 

"I have made a new decision. We will provide Rs 30,000 immediately after the birth of a third child and Rs 40,000 for a fourth child. Isn’t this the right decision?” state Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said at a public meeting, according to news outlets Press Trust of India and Times of India.

That's roughly €270 or $312 for the birth of a third child and €359 or $416 for the birth of a fourth child. Saturday's announcement follows an earlier proposal to give families Rs 25,000 (€224, $260) on the birth of a second child. However, that proposal has been modified to benefit the third and fourth child instead.

India is the most populous country in the world and its 1.4 billion-strong population is still climbing, but the national fertility rate has dipped below the replacement rate. That means while the population is growing, it is doing so at an increasingly slower rate.

Last year, the Indian Association for the Study of Population said that the national population will peak between 1.8-1.9 billion by 2080 and then decline.

Naidu pointed out that as household incomes grew, people were choosing to have only one child or a second if the first was not a boy. He rejected the idea that children were a burden and emphasized the importance of having a higher fertility rate for a healthy economy.

India has a traditional preference for boys over girls. While social and government-led programs have worked to change this perception, many couples still birth multiple children in hopes of a boy due to prestige or economic reasons.

India has long taken pride in doing what few major powers could manage. It has bought oil from Iran, built defense ties with Israel, strengthened relations with the US and expanded economic links with the Gulf monarchies, while insisting it would not be drawn into regional camps or formal alliances.

The Iran war, however, is pushing that formula to its limits. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be feeling the pressure. 

Read more about how the war in the Middle East is challenging India's flexible approach to diplomacy in this report by Murali Krishnan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a crowd of Indians living in the Netherlands during a speech in The Hague on Saturday.

"Whenever I've had a conversation with the leadership of the Netherlands, they always praised the Indian diaspora... Every Indian is proud of your contribution to the society and economy of the Netherlands," he said. 

Roughly 90,000 Indian nationals reside in the Netherlands and thousands of Indian students are enrolled at Dutch universities. 

Modi also addressed the challenges stemming from the Iran war in his speech. 

"The world is dealing with new challenges. First Covid-19, then war, and today's energy crisis. In such times, India and the Netherlands are making endeavours to establish a future-ready supply chain," he said.