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 and 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.

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	31770.74	--	706.37	--
2016-17	27518.03	-13.39	381.63	-45.97
2017-18	33657.21	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)

This information was given by the Minister of State of Commerce and Industry, C. R. Chaudhary, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

Restrictions on gold imports tighten licensing and impose self use and export limits, reducing gold import volumes. Measures impose targeted controls on gold imports through: restriction on duty free imports under India Korea CEPA; a self use condition on designated trading houses authorised to import directly; conditioning refinery import licences on a valid BIS licence via DGFT notices; and restriction on export of jewellery above 22 carats (excluding legal tender). DGFT notifications and trade notices implement these administrative controls and reported trade data are cited to show a reduction in imports in Apr-May 2018 compared with the prior year period.