Chennai: Gold import increased by 132 percent to 130 tons in November. In the January-November period, the import of gold increased by 10 percent, while the import of silver increased by 121 percent.
In value terms, gold imports reached $14.9 billion in November 2024, accounting for 21.2 percent of India’s total trade imports of $70 billion. In terms of volume, gold imports rose 132 percent to 130 tonnes in November from 56 tonnes in the same month last year.
According to Metal Focus, the country has imported a total of 755 tons from January to November, which is 10 percent more than the 686 tons imported during the same period of the previous year.
“After Diwali, when the price of gold fell sharply, we saw an increase in gold buying. This unusual purchase led to a replenishment by jewelers in November. However, we will not see this huge increase in imports in December,” said Chirag Seth, Founder, Metal Focus.
However, silver imports decreased by 6 percent to 623 tonnes in November from 662 tonnes in the same month of the previous year. From January to November, 7,500 tons of silver have been imported, which is 121 percent more than the 3,389 tons imported in the same period of the previous year. In the whole year of 2024, 3 thousand 574 tons were imported.
Meanwhile, GTRI has found that gold entered the country through other means other than official import.
“Imports of platinum alloy containing gold from Dubai increased by 17,994 percent to $1.6 billion from $8.9 million in January-September 2024 compared to the same period last year. Imports from Japan totaled $621.7 million during January-September 2024 at zero duty. Imports of platinum, rhodium and palladium solutions from Japan also reached $652 million. Gold and silver jewelery from Indonesia under the ASEAN-India FTA reached $905.2 million during the same period,” said GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava.