Govt restricts import of gold jewellery and parts amid unusual surge

The government on Tuesday imposed restrictions on the import of gold jewellery and parts from all countries, except from its free-trade agreement (FTA) partner United Arab Emirates amid an ‘unusual surge’ in the inbound shipments.

According to a notification released by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), import of items such as finished products of gold jewellery — gold studded with pearls, diamonds, precious stones — and parts have been put under the “restricted” category from “free” category at present.

The jump in imports has been the sharpest in the case of gold jewellery parts that saw 30 times jump to $1.55 billion in FY24 from $51.51 million a year ago. The largest source of imports for the gold jewellery parts have been from the UAE ($1 billion), Indonesia (341.9 million), Tanzania (107.2 million), and Thailand ($35.9 million).

The total imports of the other four items, which have been put under “restricted” list including gold studded with pearls, gold studded with diamonds, and gold studded with other precious and semi-precious stones, stood at $543.4 million in FY24. However, comparable data for FY23 was not accessible on the commerce department website. For the gold studded with diamonds, the US was the largest source of imports, valued at $170.4 million out of the total $478.4 million imports during FY24. It was closely followed by the UAE at $139.3 million for the same period.

A senior government official told Business Standard that the restriction had been imposed as the government observed an ‘unusual surge’ in import of these items and now wants to understand the reason behind the jump.

“The decision has been taken in consultation with the department of revenue. Part of the imports were coming from the UAE (under FTA). Imports were also coming from other countries (after paying import duty),” the official said.

The official clarified that import of these products have not been banned but will now face more scrutiny, with a shift to an import authorisation model. “An import authorisation model will help monitor the situation better,” the official added.

The UAE has been exempted from the restricted category due to the FTA that has been in place between both the nations since May 2022.