The central government has revised import tariffs on gold and silver in a bid to regulate purchases of these metals within the country, a move that has also generated substantial revenue for the exchequer. The government informed Parliament that customs duty collections on gold, silver, and platinum between May 13 and August 2 amounted to ₹10,463 crore. Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary provided this information in a written reply to the House.
The move comes against the backdrop of tensions in West Asia and the Iran-US conflict, which led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a sharp decline in crude oil imports. This, in turn, caused crude oil prices to rise sharply. It was not oil alone — prices of food items and fertilisers also rose steeply. To help protect the country’s foreign exchange reserves amid these pressures, the central government undertook several measures, a key one being the revision of customs duties. The government decided to curb purchases of these metals by raising import duties on them. As part of this, the customs duty on gold and silver, previously at 6 percent, was revised upward to 15 percent on May 13. The duty on platinum was similarly raised from 6.4 percent to 15.4 percent. This has had an impact on purchases of these metals.
At the same time, the minister revealed that the rise in duties resulted in ₹10,040 crore being collected in tariffs on gold imports between May 13 and August 2. Silver imports generated ₹328 crore, while platinum brought in ₹95 crore, he said. Altogether, the three metals generated a total of ₹10,463 crore for the government, the minister told Parliament. However, he did not specify how much of this amount came specifically from the increased duty rates. The minister further stated that between May 13 and June 30, authorities seized 161 kilograms of gold being smuggled into the country through illegal channels, and 116 people were taken into custody in connection with the seizures.