Punam, who won a bronze in junior Asian Championship early this year, was locked in a gripping battle with Olayuwatoyin Adesanmi and defending champion Obioma Okoli, but the two Nigerian athletes totalled five kilos more than the Indian.
Both Adesanmi and Okoli totalled 207kg but the former was awarded gold as her body weight was one kilo less than the defending champion at 62kg.
Punam's best lifts in both Snatch and Clean and Jerk came in her third attempts. After starting with 85kg, Punam ended her Snatch attempts with a final lift of 88kg.
Another Indian, Vandana Gupta, finished fourth in the same event as she ended with a total of 198kg. Her best lift in Snatch was 91kg in her third attempt and in Clean and Jerk she could manage only 107kh as her two later attempts of 110kg failed.