"Don’t buy gold, don't travel or wed abroad": PM Modi advises Indians

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hailed India’s 7.8% real GDP growth in the first quarter of FY27 and urged Indians to spend more on domestic goods, travel and weddings.

Addressing the nation in a video message on X, Modi said India was progressing despite global uncertainties and credited the country’s workforce for the economic performance, based on official data released on Monday.

“The world is drowned in uncertainties and yet India is progressing by leaps and bounds,” he said.

He called for greater promotion of “Swadeshi Bharat” and “Vocal for Local”. PM Modi, who is on a three-day visit to Kyrgyzstan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, also advised people to avoid foreign travel and destination weddings abroad.

“If we are going abroad for vacations, we must stop. If we are having weddings outside, we must stop. We must live by the mantra of ‘wed in India’,” he said.

He also urged people to avoid unnecessary purchases of gold, saying greater reliance on domestic products would contribute to building a “Viksit Bharat” for India’s youth.

Modi also criticised those spreading what he called pessimism and “jhooth ki goonj” (echoes of lies) as India’s economy grows. The remark was aimed at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and his ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme, which has focused on paper leaks, examination irregularities and government job vacancies.

The BJP has separately targeted Gandhi over a post from a year ago in which he described the Indian economy as “dead”, saying the latest figures showed India was “growing, expanding and moving forward at an unprecedented speed.”