India is the world's second largest gold consumer after China
Total import of the precious metal in the corresponding period of 2015-16 stood at $30.71 bn
Gold imports dipped by 48.49% to $1.96 billion in December
Assocham report says gold imports declined due to a prolonged strike by jewellers and continuation of 10 per cent customs duty on imports
Experts believe that import duty on the yellow metal needs to be cut back to at least 6% to discourage unofficial imports
Move follows instances of pure gold imports as dore
Discounts fall to 3-month low levels due to pick-up in imports, demand
"Gold imports declined to 19.6 tonnes in April, against 60 tonnes in the year-ago period," a senior official at MMTC Pamp said.