New Delhi: Gold imports in the country declined by nearly 9 percent to $ 24.64 billion (Rs 1.74 lakh crore) during April-January in the current financial year. The import of the metal was $ 27 billion.
The country’s trade deficit was reduced to $ 133.27 billion in the April-January period from a decrease in gold imports as compared to $ 163.27 billion in the same period a year ago. The yellow metal imports have been declining since July last year. . However, there was positive growth in October and November last year. There was a decline of about 4 percent in December and 31.5 percent in January this year.
India is the largest importer of gold. It is mainly imported to meet the demand of the jewelery industry. The country imports 800 to 900 tonnes of gold annually by volume. In order to reduce the trade deficit of gold imports and the negative impact on the current account deficit, the government has increased the import duty on metal from 10 percent to 12.5 percent.
