Overview
- Modi repeated the appeal this week in Gujarat, urging people to save petrol and diesel by using public transport, forming carpools, and working from home.
- He asked households to cook with 10% less edible oil, avoid non‑essential foreign trips for a year, skip gold purchases, and keep big weddings inside India in a push for local spending.
- Farmers were told to reduce fertilizer use by up to half to cut the need for imported inputs that require dollars to buy.
- The government has held off raising pump prices for now, though reports caution that petrol and diesel could climb if global energy costs stay high.
- India imports about 90% of its crude and much of its cooking gas, reserves stand near $690 billion after a roughly $38 billion drop, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi attacked the plan, and other Asian buyers are turning to Russian oil to cope with shortages.