The imports of gold has witnessed a fall of about 32% to $17.7 billion in April-December of the current fiscal compared to $26.4 million of import in the corresponding period of 2015-16. The softening prices of the precious metal in the domestic and world markets could be the reason for the fall in import. Cash crunch in the system due to demonetisation also impacted the inbound shipments.
According to data compiled by the commerce ministry, the gold imports dipped by 48.49% to $1.96 billion in December. In volume terms, the country’s total official gold imports declined to 60 tonnes in April-July of this fiscal, much lower than 250 tonnes in the year-ago period.
India is one of the largest gold importers in the world, and the imports mainly take care of demand from the jewellery industry. The country has imported 650 tonnes of gold in 2015-16. The fall in imports of precious metal is expected to keep a lid on the current account deficit.