Gold Imports

In 2017, when India adopted the IGST, gold-importing banks were exempted from paying the 3% levy

Dealers quoted premiums of up to $15 an ounce over official domestic prices this week, inclusive of 6 per cent import and 3 per cent sales levies, the highest since February 7

The country's gold imports rose 24 per cent to hit an all-time high of USD 71.98 billion in 2025-26 on account of high prices of the precious metal, according to Commerce Ministry data. Gold imports stood at USD 58 billion in 2024-25. It was USD 45.54 billion in 2023-24 and USD 35 billion in 2022-23. In volume terms, imports dipped 4.76 per cent to 721.03 tonnes. It was 757.09 tonnes in 2024-25. Similarly, silver imports jumped about 150 per cent to USD 12 billion in the last fiscal due to higher prices. In volume terms, it rose by 42 per cent to 7,334.96 tonnes in 2025-26. The rise in imports of these precious metals has pushed the country's trade deficit (difference between imports and exports) to USD 333.2 billion during 2025-26, the data showed. Prices of the yellow metal are hovering around Rs 1,56,000 per 10 grams (inclusive of all taxes) in the national capital. Silver was priced at around Rs 2.53 lakh per Kg. Higher "gold import is driven by the rise in prices from USD ..

Without fresh imports, India could face supply shortages, as the ​world's second-largest gold consumer and biggest silver buyer relies on overseas purchases to meet nearly all its demand

Yellow metal trading at a huge discount of Rs 2,000 per 10 gram in the Mumbai spot market

The government on Tuesday extended the validity of licences issued for gold import at quota-based duty concession under a free trade pact with the UAE till June 3 amid the West Asian crisis. Under the India-UAE comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), India has granted quota-based duty concessions on gold imports under the tariff rate quota (TRQ). "In view of the prevailing geopolitical developments affecting global trade and logistics, and with a view to facilitating importers, the Director General of Foreign Trade, hereby extends the validity of TRQ Authorisations issued in the financial year 2025-26, for import of Gold, issued under the India-UAE CEPA, from the existing validity of March 31, 2026 up to June 30, 2026," a government public notice said. The pact came into force in 2022.

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India's current account deficit narrowed sharply in Q2FY26 on lower trade gaps and strong remittances. But a spike in gold imports in October could push the Q3 deficit above 2.5 per cent of GDP

The desk will mainly target Indian jewellers and extend services to scrap and recycling businesses, Greg Kallinikos, chief executive for Asia Pacific, said in an interview

Exports in Oct saw sharpest decline in 14 months

The country's gold imports surged about threefold to hit a record high of USD 14.72 billion in October, mainly due to higher festival and wedding demand, according to commerce ministry data. Gold imports stood at USD 4.92 billion in October 2024. Cumulatively, imports during April-October this fiscal year rose 21.44 per cent to USD 41.23 billion from USD 34 billion a year ago. High gold imports have pushed the country's trade deficit (difference between imports and exports) to a record high of USD 41.68 billion in October. Prices of the yellow metal are hovering around Rs 1.29 lakh per 10 grams in the national capital. Commenting on the data, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said the increase in imports could be attributed to festival demand. Switzerland is the largest source of gold imports, with about 40 per cent share, followed by the UAE (over 16 per cent) and South Africa (about 10 per cent). The precious metal accounts for over 5 per cent of the country's total imports.

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The revised data also suggests a narrowing of India's trade deficit by $5 billion, reducing it to $32.8 billion in November from the previously reported all-time high of $37.8 billion

The spike in gold imports widened the country's merchandise trade deficit to a record $37.84 billion in November, significantly exceeding economists' forecast of $23.9 billion

Trade data released on Monday showed that India's trade deficit reached a fresh high of $37.8 billion in November, driven by a surge in merchandise imports

According to CAIT survey, the period from November to mid-December is likely to witness 3.5 million weddings in India

India's gold and silver imports from its free trade agreement (FTA) partner UAE have skyrocketed 210 per cent to USD 10.7 billion in 2023-24 and there is a need to potentially revise the concessional customs duty rates under the pact to mitigate the arbitrage driving this surge, a report said on Monday. Economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said this sharp rise in gold and silver imports is primarily driven by import duty concessions granted by India to the UAE under the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). India allows 7 per cent tariffs or customs duty concessions on import of unlimited quantities of silver and a 1 per cent concession on 160 metric tonnes of gold. CEPA was signed in February 2022 and implemented in May 2022. Additionally, India facilitates gold and silver imports by allowing private firms to import from the UAE through the India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) in Gift City. Previously, only authorised agencies

Trade deficit widens to $19.1 bn as gold imports treble

As of September 2023, the Reserve Bank of India held 800.79 metric tonnes of gold, including gold deposits of 39.89 tonnes

India may give quota-based duty concession on gold imports from Switzerland under the proposed free trade agreement with the four European nation bloc EFTA, sources said. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Sources also said that India has sought an investment commitment of USD 50 billion during the first ten years after the implementation of the agreement and another USD 50 billion over the next five years from the member countries of the bloc. Import duty concession on gold was a major demand of Switzerland from India in the agreement. Gold accounts for about 80 per cent of India's imports from Switzerland. New Delhi has extended 1 per cent duty concession to domestic importers on a specified quantity of gold under TRQ (tariff rate quota) in a trade pact with the UAE. "Similar duty concessions are also being worked out under the EFTA agreement," one of the sources said. An email query to the commerce ministry o