Gold imports jump 82 pc to USD 5.62 bn in April; silver by 157 pc
According to the data of the Ministry of Commerce, silver imports increased by 157.16 percent to 411 million dollars in the month examined.
Gold imports increased by 24 percent to reach an all-time high of $71.98 billion in 2025-26. However, in terms of volume, imports decreased by 4.76 percent to 721.03 tons.
The government increased the import duty on precious metals from 6 percent to 15 percent, effective May 13.
“Higher import duty on gold and silver will definitely have an impact in terms of reduction in imports during the year. We have to wait and watch by how much,” Commerce Minister Rajesh Agrawal told reporters here.
However, in the case of silver, the impact of the higher duty may be relatively lower due to the widespread industrial use of silver.
“However, due to this tax increase, the consumption-based need for gold and silver should definitely decrease,” Agrawal said.Also Read | Exports of precious stones and jewelery fell 9% to Rs 20,952 crore in April
He said gold imports from the UAE have fallen in both value and volume despite the high unit value in 2025-26, leading to a significant decline in the UAE’s share in India’s total gold imports.
Under the India-UAE comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), a Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) mechanism has been introduced for import of gold bullion at a concessional duty rate (1 per cent concession on applicable customs duty).
The agreement entered into force on May 1, 2022.
According to the data, total gold imports stood at 795 tonnes in 2023-24 and 757 tonnes in 2024-25. The share of imports under the TRQ mechanism is only 5 percent (40 tonnes) and 18 percent (about 140 tonnes) respectively, the official said.
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In 2025-26, the amount allocated under the mechanism was 8.58 tonnes. India imported 721 tonnes in the last fiscal year.
“I would like to clarify that the tariff rate quota concession on gold under the UAE CEPA agreement has no significant impact on our gold imports for 2025-26,” Agrawal said. he said.
He added that the total TRQ issued for gold imports under the Pact during 2025-26 is only US$ 8 billion (about 8 tonnes) and the TRQ is valid until June 2026.
“Actual imports as of March 31 were only around 1 tonne. So, this did not have a very strong impact of UAE CEPA as far as gold imports are concerned,” Agrawal said. he said.
He said the increase in bullion imports from the UAE in the last few years has been offset by an increase in bullion imports from Switzerland, India’s main source.
“Imports of gold dore for refining in the country have followed a positive trend and the total imports of dore for refining in the country remain around 250-300 tonnes per annum and this comes from multiple sources such as Africa, Latin America and also the USA,” the Secretary said. he said.
Similarly, silver imports increased by approximately 150 percent to 12 billion dollars in the last fiscal year due to high prices. In terms of volume, it increased by 42 percent to 7,334.96 tonnes in 2025-26.
The increase in imports of these precious metals in April pushed the country’s trade deficit (the difference between imports and exports) to a three-month high of US$28.38 billion.
Prices of the yellow metal hover around Rs 1,56,000 per 10 grams (including all taxes) in the national capital. The price of silver was around 2.53 lakh per Kg.
Switzerland is the largest source of gold imports with a share of nearly 40 percent, followed by the UAE (over 16 percent) and South Africa (about 10 percent).
The precious metal accounts for more than 5 percent of the country’s total imports.
Total imports of Switzerland increased by 26.73 percent to 1.47 billion dollars in April.
India is the world’s second largest consumer of gold after China. Imports mainly meet the demand of the jewelry industry. Imports have implications for India’s current account deficit (CAD).
India’s current account deficit widened to USD 13.2 billion, or 1.3 per cent of GDP, in the December quarter from USD 11.3 billion in the same period a year ago, according to RBI data released on March 2.
However, the current account deficit narrowed to US$ 30.1 billion (1 percent of GDP) in April-December 2025, from US$ 36.6 billion (1.3 percent of GDP) in the same period the previous year.
CAD occurs when the value of imported goods and services and other payments exceeds the value of a country’s exports of goods and services and other income during a given period.
To discourage these imports, the government imposed import restrictions on all types of gold, silver and platinum items.
