Modi govt's austerity drive: No first-class air travel, five-star hotel meetings for officials

The finance ministry on Thursday ordered small-bore austerity measures including a ban on holding meetings at five-star hotels and first-class air travel as it tries to trim the fiscal deficit to a seven-year low.

"Such measures are intended at promoting fiscal discipline, without restricting the operational efficiency of the government," a finance ministry statement said.

The austerity measures will include a 10 per cent cut in non-plan, or discretionary, expenditure. Interest and debt payments, the defence budget, salaries and pensions will not be affected, the statement said.