Budget 2024: Custom Duties On Gold And Silver Reduces To 6%
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday presented the Union Budget 2024 in the Parliament. In her speech, Nirmala announced a cut down in the customs duties on gold, silver and platinum.
The government has proposed a reduction of 6% custom duty on gold and silver, and platinum to 6.4% respectively. India’s gem and jewelry industry is highly dependent on imported raw materials such as gold, diamond, silver and coloured gemstones. This roughly rounds 10% of the country’s merchandise exports and also plays a crucial role in driving overall economic growth.
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The custom duty charged on gold and silver was 15% earlier and 15.4% for platinum. The custom duty on Platinum was raised to 15.4% from 10.75% earlier in October 2022, while the Gold was increased to 15% in July 2022.
Sitharaman further announced to reduce the cost of production on steel and copper. “I propose to remove the BCD on ferro nickel and blister copper. I am also continuing with nil BCD on ferrous scrap and nickel cathode and concessional BCD of 2.5 per cent on copper scrap,” she added.
Mahendra Luniya, chairman and founder of Vignaharta Gold said to Economic Times that in fiscal year 2023, India’s gold imports totaled an estimated Rs 2.8 lakh crore and at a 15% import duty rate, the industry’s customs duty payout is estimated at Rs 42,000 crore, noting that the latest exact data was not available with him.
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He further noted that a significant boost for the industry and immediately bring down the cost of the gold if the government agreed to its demand.
