Unrefined gold imports rise to a record high in 2017, up 80% to 213 tonnes

India's import of unrefined gold (dore) rose in 2017 by 80 per cent from the previous year to 213 tonnes, the highest ever, estimates GFMS Thomson Reuters.

 

It estimates total gold import in 2017 at 855 tonnes or 67 per cent higher than a year before. Of the 2013 tonnes of dore import, 22 per cent is estimated to have come from America and 19 per cent from Ghana and other African countries.

Dore import began six years earlier, after a rise in the import duty on gold. Half the new capacities were built in states which announced excise tax exemptions — Uttarakhand and Himachal, for instance.

GFMS data shows a large part of the total dore import in 2017 happened three to four months ahead of implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which was expected to take away state-specific excise exemptions. July onwards, duty benefits to all refineries from the domestic area were equal.

Rajesh Khosla, chairman emeritus at MMTC-PAMPS, the country's largest refiner (set up by government trading firm MMTC and Switzerland-based bullion refiner PAMPS), said: "Post GST, dore refiners have to pay Integrated GST at three per cent on import, which nominated agencies importing refined gold don't have to pay. When refined gold is imported, they don't have to worry about tarrif value changes. This puts refineries at a disadvantage compared to banks or other nominated agencies."

The Association of Gold Refineries and Mints has proposed changes in duties and the way these are calculated, to help refineries.