Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Mittal has backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to cut gold purchases, reduce fuel consumption and the need to spend domestically.
PM Modi on Sunday urged Indians to judiciously use fuel, postponement gold purchases and foreign travel, among other measures, to strengthen the economy amid the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
Speaking at CII Business Summit on Monday, Mittal acknowledged, “These are difficult times. We have been moving at fantastic times, but there are situations which are beyond our control. The issue in West Asia is creating a tremendous amount of pressure on global economies. India is no different."
Advocating a shift from oil, he said, “We need to get away from obsession with gold, move towards renewables and move away from oil." Mittal added, “We need to invest and spend more capex here. This is not a moment to shy away, this is a moment to double down."
In light of the Middle East conflict, PM Modi stressed on the need to save foreign exchange and called for postponing the purchase of gold and foreign travel for one year.
"We have to save foreign exchange by any means," he said, acknowleding that due to the Middle East conflict, prices of petrol and fertilisers had increased significantly.
The prime minister noted that with the pressure on the supply chain, difficulties rise despite various government measures to address the issue. "That's why, during a global crisis, keeping the country above all else, we have to take resolutions," he said.
"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," PM Modi said.
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