April gold imports down 67%

Gold imports fell 67 per cent in April, as jewellers' strike opposing one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery significantly hit demand, according to gold and silver refiner MMTC Pamp.

"Gold imports declined to 19.6 tonnes in April, against 60 tonnes in the year-ago period," a senior official at MMTC Pamp said.

Of the total imports, bullion shipments were at 13.14 tonnes in April this year, down from 54 tonnes in the year-ago period, he said.

Jewellery houses had remained closed since March 2 after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Budget proposed levying one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery. The 42-day strike was temporarily called off after the government assured that there will be no harassment by excise officials

MMTC Pamp is a joint venture between state-run MMTC and Switzerland's PAMP.In 2015-16, the country is estimated to have imported 750 tonnes of gold, as against 971 tonnes in the preceding year.This does not include the imports done for export purpose, according to the MMTC Pamp.

India, the world's largest consumer of gold, imports around 800-900 tonnes of gold annually.