New Delhi: After a public call to reduce fuel use, stop gold purchase and other measures to reduce the import bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged his cabinet colleagues to cut down unnecessary expenditure, including on petrol, sources said.
During a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by the prime minister, he is learnt to have told ministers that they must focus on cost-cutting and consciously reduce spending of resources in the wake of the West Asia crisis.
Sources said the prime minister also urged the ministers to cut down their convoy size and foreign visits, after which several ministers announced steps in this regard.
Prime Minister Modi himself significantly reduced his convoy size, days after he appealed for cutting down fuel consumption and spending more wisely, prompting several BJP chief ministers and other leaders to adopt similar measures.
Official sources said that the prime minister's appeal is not about spending less but spending more wisely by reducing fuel consumption, avoidable dependence on imported goods and foreign-currency-intensive services.
They also stressed that the Modi government is not cutting capital expenditure, welfare spending or subsidies.
A downsizing in the prime minister's convoy was implemented in his recent domestic visits. The reduction was done while maintaining essential security components as per the SPG protocol, the sources said,
Modi's convoy size was cut in Gujarat and Assam, immediately after his speech in Hyderabad during which he suggested an array of measures for reducing expenditure on imports.
The sources said the prime minister also asked for electric vehicles to be included in his convoy, wherever possible, without making new purchases.
They emphasised that Modi's appeal to conserve fuel, adopt work-from-home where possible, and reduce avoidable foreign-exchange outflows were not "austerity measures", which have a negative economic connotation.
