Delhi Government hikes import duty on gold and silver to 15%

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday increased the import duty on gold and silver from 6% to 15%. This is part of measures to curb incoming shipments of precious metals amid a rising import bill due to the West Asia crisis.
Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a ban on gold purchases and other stringent measures to conserve foreign exchange, the Finance Ministry, in a notification, increased the Social Welfare Surcharge (SWS) and the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC), effective May 13.
The duty hike will take the total customs duty on gold to 15%.
India’s gold imports are projected to rise by more than 24% to an all-time high of USD 71.98 billion in 2025-26. However, in terms of volume, shipments declined by 4.76% to 721.03 tonnes in 2025-26. Gold prices rose from USD 76,617.48/KG in FY25 to USD 99,825.38/KG in FY26.

In the national capital, gold prices rose by Rs 1,500, or nearly 1 percent, to Rs 1,56,800 per 10 grams on Tuesday, from Rs 1,55,300 per 10 grams on Monday. Silver prices also rose by Rs 12,000, or 4.53 percent, to Rs 2,77,000 per kilogram.

In the international market, spot gold fell by USD 42.33, or 1 percent, to USD 4,692.64 per ounce, while silver fell by 3.04 percent to USD 83.49 per ounce. In the 2024-25 budget, the government reduced the customs duty on gold to 6% to promote the domestic gems and jewelry industry, curb illegal smuggling, and lower local prices.
In 2022, India increased the gold import tax to 15% to control the CAD (Capital Account Deficit) amid a falling rupee due to the Russia-Ukraine war that began in February 2022.
India is the world’s second-largest consumer of gold after China. Imports are largely driven by the jewelry industry.
Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran said on Tuesday that the ongoing West Asia crisis is a “live balance of payments stress test,” directly impacting inflation, the current account, and the exchange rate.
The BoP (Balance of Payments) is the difference between foreign exchange inflows and outflows into a country at a given time.
On Tuesday, the Indian rupee hit a record low of 95.63 against the US dollar. On Sunday, Modi urged people to use fuel judiciously, buy gold, and postpone foreign travel, among other measures, to save foreign exchange amid the crisis in West Asia.
Addressing a Telangana BJP rally in Hyderabad, he suggested reducing petrol and diesel consumption, using metro rail services in cities, carpooling, increasing the use of electric vehicles (EVs), using railway services for transporting parcels, and working from home to save foreign exchange amid the crisis in West Asia.
India is already grappling with a high import bill for oil and fertilizers due to the US-Iran war, which has been ongoing for the past 10 weeks, completely blocking the Strait of Hormuz. India imports 60% of its LPG needs, and 90% of that flows through the now-closed Strait of Hormuz.