‘There will be a certain economic shortfall…’: Piyush Goyal on how the Iran war is likely to impact India

Iran war: While India is a resilient country with a robust economy, there is likely to be some sort of economic shortfall in the short run, said Union Minister Piyush Goyal. He added that India would overcome those obstacles.  

Speaking at the CNBC-TV18 India Business Leaders Awards 2026 ceremony, Goyal said India is a very resilient country, a very strong economy with good fundamentals. “I’m very confident that while we have a war raging on, I’m not an astrologer and can’t predict how long it will run, but my own sense is the people of India understand that this is a challenge we have to overcome,” he said. 

“My own sense is that there will be a certain shortfall in economic activity in the short run, but we’ll make up for that in the months to come. But we will continue to be the fastest-growing large economy in the world for at least two more decades,” Goyal said.

He said that the ongoing geopolitical situation is a wake-up call for the country, but also added that India has been able to turn around every challenge into an opportunity. 

ON OIL

The minister, speaking about the global energy crisis, dismissed concerns about India’s oil stocks. “On crude oil, on fuel, we are pretty well placed. We have good stocks in hand. There’s been absolutely no disturbance of any sort on the crude or the fuel front, petrol, diesel, aviation fuel,” he said.

India ramped up kerosene production too, he said, in case of any delays in LPG supplies. “Incidentally, we are also covering through imports from diversified sources the requirements of LPG and LNG,” he said.

Goyal added that the shipping times were barely three or four days – at best seven days – for the gas shipments to land in India. He said India needs to diversify its sources – most of which are significantly farther away from India, like Canada, the US. He said Russia is a possibility too, and that the government is looking at various sources to meet India’s requirements.

ON RUPEE

The Rupee, currently facing a stress, will bounce back in a gradual fashion, possibly once the war is over.

“We’ve certainly seen that investments in any period of time, when there is a conflict or a war, usually look for safe haven. We’ve seen a lot of money flow into gold, for instance, and the import of gold and silver has shot up,” he added.

Goyal said the government is engaging with all export promotion councils on a daily basis and has a 24-hour helpline ready to solve any issues. He said that the commerce ministry has worked out certain schemes to help create an insurance cover in case any export cargo is damaged or lost or even inordinately delayed because of the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea problems, and shipping line difficulties.