As much as 1,267 kg of gold was seized by customs including Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in 2013, Parliament was informed today.
In 2011, 153.26 kg of gold was seized, while the figure rose to 200.75 kg in 2012, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
"There are no figures available regarding estimate of smuggled gold, however, customs including DRI, during the last three years has seized...Gold being smuggled into the country," she said.
She further said that in 2013-14, 670.41 tonnes of gold was imported by India, which was lower than 1,013.92 tonnes in 2012-13. In 2011-12, the import of gold stood at 1,170.34 tonnes.
"As per RBI's statistical supplement dated June 18, gold held by RBI is 557.8 tonnes. The RBI or government has no data available indicating the availability of gold with the public," she added.
The government and the RBI had imposed tough measures to control gold imports, one of the primary causes of the current account deficit swelling to a record high of USD 88.2 billion in 2012-13.
The government also increased customs duty on gold to 10 per cent from 4 per cent to discourage imports.
Replying to another question on India-US issues related with intellectual property rights, she said India is not on the list of Priority Foreign countries or Foreign Country Watch List, which will attract unilateral sanctions on Indian pharma companies.
On how the Commerce Ministry plans to protect the interest of Indian pharma companies, Sitharaman said: "Any further action to protect our interest will be taken as per the provision of domestic and international law including WTO regime".
The Obama administration has raised concerns over India's IPR regime saying it discriminates American companies.
