MUMBAI (Scrap Monster) : The Government of India yesterday announced their decision of raising the import tariff value on Gold from $ 433 per 10 gram to $ 445 per 10 gram. Import tariff value which is the base price at which the customs duty is decided so as to avert under-invoicing is usually revised by the Government on a fortnightly basis. The value is hiked after a thorough analysis of the international price trend.

 

Regarding silver, the import tariff value was earlier reduced by India after watching out the global trend of silver price. Silver’s import tariff value was found to be declined from $ 699 per kg to $ 994 per kg. The revising of import tariff value of precious metals in India is normally notified by the Central Board of Excise and Customs.

 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the behalf of the Govt. had taken various stringent regulatory measures over a year to nail the increasing gold import as well as to curb the ballooning current account deficit of the country. The finance minister of India, Mr. P. Chidambaram, had earlier assured the jewelry federations of the country to revisit gold import norms by March-end by the time the CAD is put under control. Indian jewelers have been requesting the Govt. to pull down the 10 % import duty which is largely affecting their business.

 

The 80:20 norm imposed by RBI acts as an added crisis, making it compulsory for Indian gold traders to set aside 20 % of imported gold for exporting. These factors have doubled the supply crunch of gold in jewelries. According to Indian jewelers, total gold import will not exceed 550 tones this fiscal if the restriction continues. Last fiscal, it stood at 845 tones.