New Delhi, May 11 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a call for boycotting gold purchases and foreign travel, among other measures, to strengthen the economy from the adverse impacts of the West Asia crisis.

PM Modi batted for conserving foreign exchange reserves and reducing fuel consumption as global supply chains remain affected. "It is time for us to use petrol, diesel and gas with great care," Modi said on Sunday. "We must make efforts to use only as much as is needed to save foreign currency and reduce the adverse effects of war crises."

His comments come as crude and gold form one of the major import costs for India and is draining India's foreign exchange reserve.

RBI data shows that foreign exchange reserves fell by $7.7...