Hyderabad: With no end in sight to the Middle East crisis and supplies through the Strait of Hormuz remaining uncertain, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cautioned people against the misuse of fuel and wastage of foreign exchange.
In his address in Secunderabad on Sunday, Modi urged people to revive work-from-home practices, cut fuel consumption and even avoid buying gold for weddings for one year to help the country save foreign exchange.
While Indians have remained cushioned despite a spike in crude prices, oil marketing companies are under stress. Fuel prices have already shot up in nearly all other countries, including the US.
“During the Corona period, we adopted work from home, online meetings, video conferences and developed many such systems. We had also become accustomed to them,” Modi said.
“Today, the need of the hour is that we restart those practices, as it would be in the national interest, and we must once again give them priority,” he added, as reported by India Today.
Global crude oil prices have surged from nearly USD 70 per barrel to around USD 126 per barrel, leading to a global energy crisis.
The Prime Minister repeatedly stressed the need to reduce petrol and diesel consumption without directly announcing a price increase.
“Petrol-diesel has become so expensive across the world. It is the responsibility of all of us that the foreign exchange spent on purchasing petrol-diesel should also be saved by conserving petrol-diesel,” he said.
Modi also appealed to citizens to rethink discretionary spending as the country faces economic pressure from rising global energy costs.
“I would appeal to people not to buy gold for weddings for one year,” he said.
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PM’s remarks are an indication of a possible rise in fuel prices. Sources told India Today TV that petrol and diesel prices are likely to be increased before May 15 as oil marketing companies battle massive under-recoveries caused by soaring crude prices.
Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are together facing losses of nearly 30,000 crore per month, sources indicated.
The government and oil companies are effectively absorbing nearly Rs 24 per litre on petrol and Rs 30 per litre on diesel to shield consumers from the full impact of the crisis.
Sources have indicated that petrol and diesel prices could rise by around Rs 4-5 per litre, while domestic LPG cylinders may become dearer by Rs 40-50.
The Prime Minister also asked citizens to reduce edible oil consumption and urged farmers to cut dependence imported on chemical fertilisers.
“The same is true for edible oil. We have to spend foreign currency on its import,” the Prime Minister said.
“If every household reduces the use of edible oil, it is a huge contribution to patriotism. This will improve the health of the national treasury and the health of every family member,” he said.
The country spends heavily on fertilisers sourced from overseas, Modi said, linking the global crisis to India’s agricultural imports.
“Another sector that consumes foreign currency is our agriculture. We import chemical fertilisers in large quantities from abroad,” he said.
“We should reduce our consumption of chemical fertilisers by half and move towards natural farming. This way, we can save foreign currency and protect our farms and Mother Earth.”
While India has so far avoided shortages and long queues at petrol pumps, there is a limit till when this will be possible.
India responded to the global crisis by ramping up LPG production from 36,000 tonnes per day to 54,000 tonnes, diversifying crude imports from Russia, the US and West Africa, and pushing refineries to operate at more than 100 per cent capacity.
Excise duties were also cut earlier to cushion consumers from rising international prices.