Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for discerning use of fuel to conserve foreign reserve amid the West Asia crisis. “We have to save foreign exchange by any means," he said, adding that the ongoing crisis has significantly increased prices of petrol and fertilisers.
Stressing on the need to reduce petrol and diesel consumption, he urged people to tap into the metro rail network in urban areas, carpool, use electric vehicles and railway for parcel and work from home.
Modi said that pressure on supply chain increases challenges despite several measures by the government to address them. This situation requires to place the country above everything and take resolutions. “We got into work-from-home, virtual meetings, video conferencing, and many other methods during COVID-19. We got habituated to them. The need of the hour is to resume those methods," he said.
To save foreign exchange and make the country self-reliant, the Prime Minister also called for reducing the consumption of edible oil, lowering the use of chemical fertilisers, promoting natural farming and Swadeshi products.
This comes at a time when India’s 20 percent crude oil shipment passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway presently witnessing de-facto closure by Iran.
