MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's most-traded August gold contract extended its gains to as much as 2.2 percent on Thursday after the federal government kept gold import duty unchanged at a record 10 percent in the budget.
Gold for August delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange rose to as much as 28,225 rupees, up 2.2 percent. The contract traded at 28,040 rupees at 1:21 p.m.
Industry officials were expecting a reduction in import duty to arrest a rise in smuggling of the precious metal since last year.
India, desperate to trim a gaping current account deficit, took a slew of measures last year to curb demand for bullion, its second-biggest import after oil.
(Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)
