Lok Sabha Question No. 706 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-23
Subject: Import of Gold and Other Commodities
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: B.N. CHANDRAPPA, DODDAALAHALLI KEMPEGOWDA SURESH, NALIN KUMAR KATEEL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 706 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 rd  JULY,2018

## IMPORT OF GOLD AND OTHER COMMODITIES

706.   SHRI B.N. CHANDRAPPA:

SHRI D.K. SURESH:

SHRI NALIN KUMAR KATEEL:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाͨणÏय एवं उɮयोग मंğी ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the import of  the gold and other  commodities has  declined  in  the  recent years;
- (b) if so, the details of the import of gold and other commodities during the last three years;
- (c) whether the Government has introduced various measures to restrict the import of gold and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether the said measures are yielding desired results and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=ky; esa jkT; ea=h ¼Jh lh- vkj- pkS/kjh½

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

(a) & (b): India's import of gold and gold & other precious metal jewellery has increased by 22.31% and 727.51% respectively during the year 2017-18 over the year 2016-17. The details  of import of gold and gold & other precious metal jewellery during last three years and the current year are as below:

(Value in US$ millions)

| Years              |     Gold | %Change   |   Gold &other precious metal jewellery | %Change   |
|--------------------|----------|-----------|----------------------------------------|-----------|
| 2015-16            | 31770.7  | --        |                                 706.37 | --        |
| 2016-17            | 27518    | -13.39    |                                 381.63 | -45.97    |
| 2017-18            | 33657.2  | 22.31     |                                3158.05 | 727.51    |
| 2017-18 (Apr-May)  |  8811.89 | --        |                                 126.21 | --        |
| 2018-19 (Apr-May)* |  6058.28 | -31.25    |                                 120.79 | -4.29     |

Source: DGCI&S, Kolkata (*: Provisional)

(c) & (d): The Government has introduced the following measures to restrict the import of gold in the country:

- (i) Imposition of restriction on duty free gold imports from the South Korea as allowed under the existing India-Korea CEPA.
- (ii) Imposition  of  self-use  condition  on  Premiere  Trading  House/Star  Trading  House authorised  to  import  precious  metal  (gold)  directly  from  overseas  bullion  supplier (DGFT Notification No. 34/2015-20 dated 18.10.2017).
- (iii) Issuances  of  Trade  Notice  by  DGFT  for  grant  of  licence  for  import  of  Gold  to  the refinery  who  holds  a  valid  license  from  BIS  (DGFT  Trade  Notices  No.4  dated 21.04.2017 and No. 14 dated 24.08.2017).
- (iv) Restriction imposed on export of gold jewellery and articles, including medallions and coins  (excluding  legal  tenders)  of  purity  above  22  carats.  (DGFT  Notification  No. 21/2015-20 dated 14.08.2017).

The above measures have yielded the  desired  results  with  31.25%  reduction  in  the import  of  gold  and  4.29%  reduction  in  import  of  gold  &  other  precious  metal  jewellery during the current year (Apr-May 2018) over the corresponding period of the previous year, as indicated in the foregoing table.