New Delhi, Sept 21 (KNN)  Clarifying the gold import norms, the Ministry of Commerce has said that at least 20 per cent of the imported metal could be re-exported which can release inbound shipments held up at customs.

The matter was discussed and resolved in a meeting chaired by Commerce Secretary S R Rao with officials of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), gems and jewellery exports promotion councils, finance ministry officials and industry representatives. 

Earlier in July, the RBI has introduced the 80:20 scheme which said that 20 per cent of the total gold imports were to be exported back.

In order to curb rising gold import which led to high current account deficit (CAD), imports were not allowed if this 20 per cent norm was not met by importers. The RBI norm left many confused, leading to imports being held up at customs.

As a result, gold imports were held up at customs due to confusion over the RBI’s 80:20 import norm.  The customs officials stopped all stocks as they were not sure how to implement RBI’s rule.  However, gold imports are likely to resume, after this announcement.

India imported 845-850 tonne gold during this fiscal. However, the county’s gold imports in the last month dipped to USD 0.65 billion from USD 2.9 billion in July.

Gold imports in May stood at a staggering USD 8.4 billion but declined the next month to USD 2.45 billion. (KNN/GUNJ)