Gold Imports Face Major Duty Hike and Economic Reversal
Gold imports just got a major hit. It started happening around May 13th after the government sharply cranked up the customs duty and that AIDC—the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess—on gold, silver, and other precious metals. It’s a big reversal, ditching that duty cut from last year.
The Ministry of Finance dropped the hammer with customs notifications late on May 12th. They hiked the overall import duty on gold from six percent all the way to fifteen percent. This new structure kicks in starting May 13, 2026.
Remember, this is less than two years after they had slashed the total gold import duty down to six percent back in the Budget 2024. They did that to try and boost demand and stop smuggling. Now things are flipping.
Before this change, things looked a little different. Gold imports used to face a Basic Customs Duty of five percent and a one percent AIDC cess. That meant the total import duty was six percent.
Now? That’s changed.
The government bumped the BCD up to ten percent. And the AIDC? That jumped to five percent. That’s how they landed on that fifteen percent total import duty.
It wasn't just gold, though. They also increased duties on several other precious metal products. Think silver, platinum, jewellery findings, precious metal waste, catalysts, and coins. A lot of things got hit.
And don't forget the little bits. They revised the duty on jewellery findings—those small components used in ornaments, things like hooks, clasps, screw backs, and catches. Those rates are now five percent for gold findings, five percent for silver findings, and 5.4 percent for platinum findings.
This whole move feels tied to bigger worries. There's a growing concern about India’s overall import bill. Pressure on foreign exchange reserves is definitely mounting because of the geopolitical stuff going on in West Asia and just general global uncertainty.
Prime Minister Modi had been pushing for people to cut down on non-essential imports. Gold purchases and foreign travel were on the list. The idea was to save foreign exchange.
The government is clearly trying to curb these gold imports. It’s all about managing the current account deficit and those dollar outflows. It’s a balancing act, I guess.
The real question is what this means for the wallets. The actual jump in jewellery prices depends on the international gold rates, plus the making charges and GST. But the duty hike itself is definitely going to push up the import costs significantly.
Take an example. If gold imported worth one lakh rupees used to cost about six thousand rupees in import duty, now it could cost around fifteen thousand.
That means the cost related just to importing gold jumps by nearly nine thousand rupees for every lakh rupees of gold value.
For the actual consumers, the increase in jewellery prices won't be a neat number. It depends on the purity, what the jewellers charge for making things, and the GST. But industry experts are already predicting retail gold jewellery prices are going to climb. Why? Because the jewellers are obviously going to pass on at least some of that increased import cost. It’s going to be noticeable.
Written by Gree News Team — Senior Editorial Board
Gree News Team covers international news and global affairs at Gree News. Our collective of senior editors is dedicated to providing independent, accurate, and responsible journalism for a global audience.
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