At a public event in Hyderabad in southern India on May 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Indians to reduce petrol and diesel consumption, avoid non-essential gold purchases and postpone foreign travel.
“Use metros wherever metros are available. Use carpooling to go to places, and use the railways if you have to transport goods. All of this will reduce dependency on petrol and diesel,” he said. Modi urged people to work from home and switch to electric vehicles to conserve petrol, and cut the use of edible oil in cooking and chemical fertilizers for crops.
Modi’s appeal comes amid the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, which has disrupted oil, gas, and fertilizer supply lines from the Persian Gulf.
India imports nearly 88 percent of its crude oil requirements. And while it has diversified its sourcing of oil, its dependence on the Strait of Hormuz route remains significant; 40-50 percent of its crude imports move through this waterway.
As global oil prices surge amid the crisis in West Asia, India’s import bills have soared. India’s crude purchases ballooned from an average of 70.99 per barrel in 2025-26 to $114.48 per barrel in April and $105.4 per barrel in May this year. The country is grappling with inflation, a weakened rupee, and pressure on its current account deficit and foreign exchange reserves.
Underscoring the need to conserve foreign exchange, Modi urged Indians to cut back on the “growing culture of weddings abroad, travelling abroad, and vacationing abroad.” Avoid buying gold for a year, he said. Indians have a strong love for gold; the country is among the world’s largest consumers of the yellow metal, importing 90 percent of its domestic demand.
Modi’s appeal to Indians to tighten their belts is not unusual. Governments in India and the world over have called for austerity in times of war or economic crisis. For example, in 1967, when India was facing a severe foreign exchange crisis — its forex cover shrank by almost 65 percent over a three-week period, forcing the rupee to be devalued by 57 percent — Prime Minister Indira Gandhi urged citizens to avoid purchasing gold. Similar calls have been made by other Indian leaders in the past. Modi’s appeal is therefore not without precedent.
Modi’s call to Indians to cut consumption of petrol and diesel, gold, edible oil and fertilizers isn’t unreasonable either. These account for a major part of India’s import bill and are an important and growing drain on its forex reserves. In 2025-26, crude oil imports cost India $134.7 billion, followed by gold imports at nearly $72 billion, vegetable oils at $19.5 billion and fertilizers at $14.5 billion. Together, these four account for over 31 percent of India’s total imports.
Interestingly, Modi framed the austerity as an act of “economic patriotism.”
“Patriotism is not only about the willingness to sacrifice one’s life on the border. In these times, it is about living responsibly and fulfilling our duties to the nation in our daily lives,” he said.
Modi’s stirring appeals to get Indians to tighten their belts have irked many Indians.
For many Indians who live a hand-to-mouth existence, Modi’s calls for a cutback on their lifestyles seem like an insensitive joke. Already, they have been standing in long lines all day to buy cooking gas and are enduring India’s scorching summer without water or electricity. Working from home isn’t an option for those working in agriculture or the construction sector.
What makes Modi’s appeal particularly distasteful is that he is hardly leading by example. He is known to have expensive tastes, flaunts foreign brands and lives a lavish lifestyle. His critics point to his frequent trips abroad. Even if these are to conduct official business, they cost the exchequer over $39 million between 2021 and 2025.
Although the energy and foreign exchange crisis was gathering momentum from at least February, the Modi government downplayed the shortages. Indeed, it denied that there was a shortage of oil and LPG. With five states going to the polls in April, the government preferred to paint a rosy picture of the economic scenario.
Worse, the BJP spent lavishly on its election campaign. Its leaders and candidates opted for chartered flights. The party held grand rallies. Roadshows and convoys comprising hundreds of cars and SUVs were common. Supporters were ferried by buses and trains to cast their votes for the BJP.
There was little concern over conserving fuel and forex then.
It was only a week after results were announced, when the value of what the voter felt had receded, that Modi spoke of the fuel and forex crisis and exhorted Indians to cut back on consumption.
The day after his speech in Hyderabad, Modi flew to Gujarat, where he participated in more roadshows and rallies. His government has made no announcements regarding cutting perks of politicians and officials or restricting the size of their convoys. There has been no change in the consumption patterns or lifestyles of Modi and his ministers. Austerity, it seems, applies only to the common woman and man, not the government or the ruling party.
There is apprehension in the country that with his austerity speech, Modi was preparing the country for yet another pandemic-style lockdown. Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has said that the prime minister will be in the UAE, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy between May 15 and 20 on an official visit.
