India hikes import duties on gold and silver
The move came a couple of days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for curbs on gold purchases for a year, along with other austerity measures to save foreign exchange
India today hiked import duties on gold and silver to 15% from 6% as part of measures to curb inbound shipments of precious metals amid a rising import bill due to the Middle East crisis.
The move came a couple of days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for curbs on gold purchases for a year, along with other austerity measures to save foreign exchange.
The duty hikes will raise the overall customs duty on gold to 15%.
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India, the second biggest gold importer after China, had in the 2024-25 budget cut customs duty on gold to 6% to boost the domestic gems and jewellery industry, curb smuggling and bring down local prices.
In 2022, India had increased gold import tax to 15% to check capital account deficit amid a falling rupee due to the Russia-Ukraine war that began in February that year.
India's imports of the yellow metal went up by over 24% to an all-time high of $71.98 billion in 2025-26. In volume terms, however, the shipments dipped 4.76% to 721.03 tonnes in 2025-26.
