11 May 2026 – Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued an extraordinary wartime-style appeal to the Indian public at a massive rally in Hyderabad on Sunday — asking citizens to avoid buying gold for a year, reduce foreign travel, switch to public transport, work from home, and conserve fuel wherever possible. The remarks come as the ongoing US-Iran war pushes crude oil prices sharply higher, straining India’s balance of payments and threatening to inflate an already-stretched import bill.
India spent $174.9 billion on crude and petroleum products — roughly 22% of its total import bill — in the financial year ending March 2026. The country is also the world’s second-largest gold buyer after China, spending nearly $72 billion on gold imports, making both commodities focal points of concern as the Middle East conflict rattles global supply chains.
The appeal represents a marked escalation in economic messaging from the government. Modi also urged farmers to cut chemical fertiliser use by half and transition to natural farming, framing the entire exercise as a national duty during a period of global disruption. Global brokerage UBS Securities has already downgraded India’s GDP growth forecast for FY2027 to 6.2%, down from an earlier estimate of 6.7%, citing the Middle East conflict as a “historically large energy shock with asymmetric macro risks.” Markets reacted sharply to Modi’s comments — shares of jewellery giant Titan fell nearly 6% in early trade, while IndiGo airline stock dropped 2.8%.
