New Delhi: India’s gold imports surged 81.69 per cent year-on-year to $5.62 billion in April, driven by high prices of the precious metal, though imports may decline in the coming months following the government’s sharp increase in customs duty on the yellow metal.
According to the commerce ministry data, silver imports jumped 157.16 per cent to $ 411 million during the month under review.
Gold imports rose 24 per cent to hit an all-time high of $ 71.98 billion in 2025-26. In volume terms, however, the imports dipped 4.76 per cent to 721.03 tonnes. The government has increased import duty on precious metals from 6 per cent to 15 per cent effective May 13.
“With the higher import duty on gold and silver, there will definitely be some impact in terms of lower imports during the year. We need to wait and watch how much it will be,” Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal told reporters here. However, in the case of silver, the impact of a higher duty may be relatively lower due to its extensive industrial usage.
