The Commerce Ministry's data has showed that gold import zoomed to $6.3 billion for the month of April due to a surge in domestic demand. Gold import stood at $2.83 million (Rs 21.61 crore) in April 2020. The rise in gold imports pushed the country's trade deficit to $15.1 billion in April 2021 as against $6.76 billion in the same month a year ago.
However, silver imports during the month dipped by 88.53 per cent to about $11.9 million. India is the largest importer of gold, which mainly caters to the demand of the jewellery industry. Gems and jewellery exports grew multi-fold to $3.4 billion in April as against $36 million in April 2020. Due to a lockdown in April last year, the exports were impacted severely.
In volume terms, the country imports 800-900 tonnes of gold annually. The government in the Budget reduced the import duty on the yellow metal from 12.5 per cent to 10 per cent (7.5 per cent customs duty plus 2.5 per cent Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess).