Gold imports drop by 76 % in April-July this year

TIL Desk/Business/Mumbai-India’s gold imports fell sharply by 76 per cent to 60 tonnes in the April-July period this fiscal on high import duty and other taxes, according to gold and silver refiner MMTC-PAMP. However, India imported around 80 tonnes of gold through unofficial channels in these four months in the wake of high import duty of 10 per cent, it noted.

“Unless and until customs duty is reduced to 3-4 per cent, this trend of unofficial imports will continue,” MMTC-PAMP managing director Rajesh Khosla told on the sidelines of a three-day India International Gold Convention.

Falling gold imports may be a great news to the government as it is helping keep current account deficit under check but it seems nobody is bothered about growing smuggling of the yellow metal, he said. The country’s total official gold imports declined to 60 tonnes in April-July of this fiscal, much lower than 250 tonnes in the year-ago period, he added.