PM Modi Asks To Reduce Fuel Usage For A Year
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 11 May, 2026 made an appeal to cut down the use petrol and diesel to reduce India’s foreign exchange.
Speaking at the inauguration function of Sardardham hostel in Vadodara, Gujarat, PM Modi said that over the past few years, the world has been passing through unstable conditions. Starting with the Corona crisis and then moving on to global economic challenge and the war in West Asia, he said India has not been left untouch by them just like the rest of the world. Calling the conditions created by US-Iran war in West Asia the biggest in this decade, he assued those assembled that the government was trying to ensure that they had the least impact on ordinary citizens.
Calling for a reduction in petrol and diesel consumption, PM Modi said a major portion of India’s imports is crude oil. India spends lakhs of crores of Rupees in foreign exchange for imprting many products, he said. But with West Asia embroiled in a war, every Indian must make small pledges before conditions return to normal. He asked for everyone to reduce the use of petrol and diesel wherever possible. He asked to use public transport, metro services and electric buses.
PM Modi asked people to practice saving fuel for a year.
PM Modi has made a similar appeal a day earlier in Hyderabad, Telangana, where he had asked for people to reduce the use of petrol and diesel, and instead use metro services to travel and railways for parcels. PM Modi said carpooling and practices like work-from-home could also help reduce fuel usage.
“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,” Modi had said.
“We have to save foreign exchange by any means,” he said, adding that due to the West Asia conflict, prices of petrol and fertilisers had increased significantly.
At Sardardham in Vavodara, PM Modi reiterated all that, saying, “Even small efforts become the nation’s greatest strength when 140 crore Indians move together with one resolve. When 140 crore people take one step forward, the country moves forward by 140 crore steps.”
In the year ended March 2026, India’s crude and petroleum imports bill stood at $174.9 bn, which was 22% of its total imports. According to provisional data from Indian government’s Petroleum & Planning Analysis Cell (PPAC), India’s crude oil imports in the month of March declined 17% on a year-over-year basis, largely on account of the crisis in West Asia.
