Shafaqna India: The government on Wednesday hiked import duty on gold and silver to 15 per cent to curb non-essential imports amid the West Asia crisis which has put pressure on forex reserves.
Effective May 13, import duty on gold and silver has been increased from 6 per cent to 15 per cent and that on platinum has been raised from 6.4 per cent to 15.4 per cent. Consequential changes have also been made to other items such as gold/silver dore, coins, findings, etc.
The duty hike came within days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call for curbs on gold purchases, along with other austerity measures to reduce avoidable foreign exchange expenditure.
