Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged citizens to work from home where possible, avoid overseas travel and reduce gold purchases as the United States-Israeli war on Iran drives up global energy prices and increases pressure on India’s foreign exchange reserves.
He made the appeal during a public event in Hyderabad on Sunday, reports Al Jazeera.
Below is a breakdown of what Modi said, the government’s concerns, and how these are linked to the ongoing conflict involving Iran.
What did Modi say?
Modi encouraged people to shift from physical meetings to online alternatives, reviving the work-from-home approach widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said such measures would help reduce fuel consumption.
He also urged greater use of public transport and carpooling to save fuel. Families, he added, should reduce their consumption of cooking oil, describing it as both a health measure and a patriotic duty.
In addition, Modi called on citizens to avoid buying gold and to cut non-essential foreign travel for at least a year. He also asked farmers to reduce fertiliser use by up to 50 percent.
Explaining his reasoning, the Prime Minister said: “In the current situation, we must place great emphasis on saving foreign exchange.”
What is the “current situation”?
Modi was referring to the war on Iran and its wider economic fallout, particularly for India. Earlier in the conflict, he had compared the resulting economic strain to the disruptions experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Sunday, he again drew parallels, urging people to adopt similar lifestyle changes seen during the pandemic period.
Oil prices have surged since the war began on 28 February. Brent crude, the global benchmark, stood at $72.87 per barrel on 27 February. By Monday, it had risen to $105.45 per barrel, an increase of nearly 50 percent.
Early in the conflict, Iranian strikes on oil and gas facilities in the Gulf disrupted energy supplies. Since early March, Iran has also restricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route through which around 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas once passed.
Iran has allowed passage only for vessels from selected countries that negotiate transit through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In April, the United States announced a naval blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports, further tightening global oil and gas supply chains.
Rising fuel costs have pushed up airline fares. Data from travel search platform Kayak shows that the average international airfare from the United States to global destinations reached $1,101 in the last week of April, a 16 percent increase compared with the same period last year.
Nearly half of global urea trade, along with large volumes of other fertilisers, is exported from Gulf states through the Strait of Hormuz. These supplies have also faced major disruption.
“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,” Modi said.
He added that such duties are closely linked to protecting India’s foreign exchange reserves.
What are India’s foreign exchange reserves?
According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $690.69 billion as of 1 May. This marked a fall of $7.79 billion, or about 1.12 percent, from the end of March.
The decline is more pronounced when compared with pre-war levels. On 27 February, reserves stood at $728.5 billion.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that India’s current account deficit (CAD) will reach $84 billion in 2026.
A negative CAD indicates that a country is spending more abroad than it earns.
What do oil, gold, travel and fertilisers have to do with it?
India is the world’s third-largest importer of crude oil, after China and the United States.
Between April 2025 and March, India imported crude oil worth $123 billion, making it the largest component of its import bill.
Gold ranks second. During the 2025–2026 financial year, India imported gold worth $72 billion—second only to China globally.
According to travel insurance firm ACKO, Indians spent $31.7 billion on overseas travel in 2023–24. In 2024 alone, around 30.9 million Indian nationals travelled abroad, compared with 27.9 million in 2023, according to the Bureau of Immigration.
India is also the world’s largest importer of urea, bringing in around 10 million tonnes last year, according to S&P Global analysis.
Why is this a concern for India?
India’s foreign exchange reserves are under pressure due to high import bills for oil, gold, fertilisers, and rising overseas spending by Indian travellers.
However, cutting oil and fertiliser imports is difficult. Energy imports are essential for economic activity, while fertilisers are critical for agriculture, which supports more than half of Indian households, as well as food security.
This leaves gold imports and foreign travel as the more flexible areas for potential reduction. Whether citizens will respond to the Prime Minister’s appeal remains uncertain.
