Delhi Braces for 45°C Heat | India's First Alcohol-content Tax | 20,000 Tonnes of LPG Reach Gujarat

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]Good morning. Five stories on the desk today. A handshake in Goththingberg that resets a relationship between India and Sweden. A tanker carrying 20,000 tons of LPG reaches Gujarat through the trade of hormones. Karnataka rewrites the rules on how liquor is taxed. Andra Pradesh starts paying couples to have more children. And Delhi braces for 45° this week. Good morning. Welcome to Top of the Morning. I'm Nelson John. Let's get started.

[00:00:32]In Gothberg on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Swedish counterpart Wolf Christerson signed off on something both sides had been building toward for years. India and Sweden have agreed to elevate their bilateral ties to a full strategic partnership backed by a road map that runs all the way to 2030. Here's what's on the table. The two governments want to double trade and investment within 5 years. Annual trade between the two countries currently sits at about 7.75 billion US. Speaking after the talks, Chriserson said he believes that doubling could happen even sooner than that. The partnership rests on four pillars: strategic dialogue on stability and security, a next generation economic partnership, emerging technologies and trusted connectivity. and what they're calling shaping tomorrow together which covers people, planet, health and resilience. Now to put it all into action, both sides adopted the India Sweden joint action plan 2026 to 2030 spanning defense, AI, space, climate and people-to-people exchanges. There is a space angle too. The two countries space agencies signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on an instrument that will be part of India's Venus orbiter mission. Crown Princess Victoria joined the meeting and conveyed wishes from Sweden's King Carl I 16th Gustaf and Queen Sylvia. Modi conveyed his own wishes on the Swedish king's 80th birthday. On the bigger picture, Sweden reiterated its support for India's permanent membership on a reformed United Nations Security Council. Modi thanks Sweden for backing India in the fight against terrorism.

[00:02:20]The two leaders also flagged the recently concluded India EU free trade agreement, saying they want to see it implemented quickly. Modi's European tour now moves to Norway for the Nordic summit. Then onto Italy for a meeting with Prime Minister Georgia Maloney. The next India Sweden bilateral summit called stronger together towards 2047 will be held in India in 2027.

[00:02:47]A vessel carrying 20,000 metric tons of liqufied petroleum gas has docked at a Kandla in Gujarat after making it through the straight of Hormuz at the height of the West Asia crisis. The Marshall Islands flagged MVSI began its journey from Qatar crossed the strait on May 13th and reached Dindal Port Authority around 11 on Saturday night.

[00:03:10]The cargo belongs to staterun Indian oil corporation. Now here's the bigger picture. Since early March, 13 Indian flagged vessels, 12 LPG tankers and one crude oil tanker have crossed the street of Hormuz. That waterway close to the coast of Oman handles roughly 1/5if of the world's energy supplies. It has been severely disrupted since February 28th when the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran, triggering retaliation and one of the worst energy crisis in decades. India is facing an acute shortage of cooking gas and the government is prioritizing the safe passage of LPG tankers from the Gulf. At least 12 Indian vessels remain stranded in the region along several foreign ships carrying Indiabound cargo.

[00:03:57]Just days ago on May 13th, an India flagged commercial vessel came under attack off the coast of Oman and sank.

[00:04:05]All 14 crew members were rescued by the Omani Coast Guard. India's permanent representative to the United Nation called the targeting of commercial shipping and civilian crew unacceptable and flagged concerns over freedom of navigation in the straight of hormones.

[00:04:24]Karnataka has become the first state in India to tax liquor based on actual alcohol content in the bottle rather than the volume. The new system called the alcohol in beverage or AIB excise duty structure came into effect on May 11th. Now here's how it works. The earlier model taxed liquor by bulk liters. The new one ties excise duty to the percentage of alcohol in the drink.

[00:04:49]The number of Indian made liquor slabs has been cut from 16 to 8. Direct price fixation has been scrapped which means producers can now position their products within different pricing slabs based on the alcohol content and market demand. The state government is targeting 45,000 cr rupees from the excise sector. Chief Minister Siddaya first announced the shift in the 202627 state budget. The reform was originally proposed by KP Krishnan le resource mobilization committee. So what does this mean for the buyers? Mild and lagger beers around 5% alcohol could become 20 to 25% cheaper. Premium scotch whiskey prices may drop by close to 20%.

[00:05:33]But lowcost liquor including 180 ml tetra packs of whiskey, rum, gin and vodka could go up by 20 to 30%.

[00:05:45]And Pradesh's chief minister Nchandra Babunayu has announced cash incentives for couples who have a third or fourth child. 30,000 rupees for the third child, 40,000 rupees for the fourth. The announcement came at a public meeting in Shri Kulam district. Two reasons are driving the push. First, Andra's total fertility rate has dropped to 1.5, well below the replacement level of 2.1. It was three in 1993. Second, the state is aging faster than the country as a whole. The median age in Andhra Pradesh is 32.5 years compared to a national average of 28.4.

[00:06:26]Health department officials say the state has a demographic window only until 2040 before the dependency ratio tilts heavily toward the elderly. Naidu, who pushed population control during his earlier sten as a chief minister between 1995 and 2004, now says population is an asset, not a burden. The state has already scrapped its two child norm for contesting local body elections and lifted maternity leave restrictions tied to the number of children. The model echoes incentive structure used in France and Hungary. Naidu has flagged concerns about Andra heading toward the demographic profile of Japan, South Korea and Italy if the trend continues.

[00:07:12]New Delhi is heading into one of the hottest stretches of the year. The India meteorological department says temperatures in the national capital could touch 45° C next week with a heat wave likely to grip large parts of north and central India. The IMD forecast puts maximum temperatures in Delhi between 43 and 45° through May 20th. Minimum temperature will sit between 25 and 27°C.

[00:07:41]Strong surface winds of 20 to 30 km an hour are expected with gusts of up to 40. The heat wave is not limited to Delhi. Rajasthan is in the red zone from May 17th to 23rd. Punjab, Hiana, Chandigar and Delhi will see elevated temperatures from May 18th to 23rd.

[00:08:00]Parts of Uttar Pradesh are looking at moderate to severe heatwave conditions.

[00:08:04]Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, the Kungan belt and Goa are also under heat advisory until May 22nd. For context, the IMD declares a severe heat wave when the temperature crosses 45°C or rises more than 6.4° above normal. children. The elderly and outdoor workers face the highest risk.

[00:08:25]The southwest monsoon, meanwhile, is expected to set in Oerala around May 26th. All right, that's a wrap here on Top of the Morning. Thank you for joining. I'm Nelson John. Have a marvelous Monday.

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