What's causing the silver shortage in India this festive season?

Silver is trading at a steep premium in India over global prices, as the world's biggest consumer of the precious metal grapples with surging demand from millions of investors. The premium has jumped to as much as 10% over global prices, prompting physically backed exchange-traded funds to suspend new subscriptions. At the same time, jewellers are struggling to meet strong demand ahead of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, when silver purchases traditionally surge. Global silver demand has outstripped supply for the past four years, using up the surplus produced in the previous five years. Even in 2025, supply is struggling to keep pace, as about 70 percent of silver is a by-product of mining other metals, limiting how quickly...