THE INDIA IMPACT OF US' FOREVER WARS

NIMISH Seth runs a factory in Nashik producing hard luggage.

- GURBIR SINGH

He says he had never imagined the Iran war would make him consider shutting operations. Raw plastic, the petroleum-based input for moulded luggage, is imported from the Gulf or sourced from Reliance Industries (RIL). What was selling at ₹100 a kilogram, has shot up a week ago due to supply shortages to ₹145 a kg.

“We can’t absorb this high input cost. Once the current stocks are consumed, we may have to suspend production,” Seth told this writer.

It is not just oil shocks. As the US-Israel war against Iran and Lebanon grinds on, India’s industrial supply chain is under threat. In 2025 it imported nearly $100 billion worth of goods from the West Asia, from fertilizers and petrochemicals to industrial minerals.

Disruption of these imports is exposing sectors from farming and plastics to construction and diamond cutting to supply shocks. The Iran war is more dangerous than it looks. The earlier President Trump's prediction of a five-week war, have now been replaced by “we are in it for as long as it takes.” The US President is not ruling out boots on the ground either. Unfortunately, the objectives of this assault on the Middel-East are not clear even to those who have embarked on it.