Government imposes restrictions on import of certain gold jewellery, articles

Now, an importer will need a licence from the Government for importing these gold products

India has restricted imports of plain gold jewellery and gold articles, as the world’s second-largest consumer of the precious metal tries to plug loopholes in its trade policy.

Import of articles of gold have been put under the restricted category from the free category, a Government notification said, adding that import under the India-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement would be allowed without any licence.

These restrictions will help cut the import of non-essential items. Now, an importer would need a permission of licence from the Government for importing these gold products.

The move comes as importers over the last few months have been using a policy flaw to source plain gold jewellery from Indonesia without paying any import taxes.

“Indonesia was never a gold jewellery supplier to India, but in the last few months, bullion dealers imported 3-4 tonnes from Indonesia without paying any import taxes,” said a Mumbai-based dealer with a private bullion importing bank.

India levies a 15% tax on gold imports. “Many dealers got to know about the loophole, and they were also trying to source from Indonesia. The policy change has closed that loophole,” he said.

Courtesy: Reuters, NDTV