Gold import bill drops sharply by Rs 29,900 crore in November

New Delhi, Dec 19. The value of India's gold imports in November fell by over Rs 29,900 crore, or 84 per cent, from the level in January after steps taken by the government to curb inward shipments of the metal. About 21,281 kgs of gold valued at Rs 5,619.66 crore was brought into the country last month, according to data provided by the Finance Ministry in response to a query filed under the Right to Information. In January, India had imported 1.2 lakh kgs of gold worth Rs 35,528.24 crore. They stood at Rs 23,688 crore in January 2012. Monthly gold imports have fluctuated since the start of this year. Gold imports stood at about Rs 26,930 crore in February, Rs 12,741 crore in March, Rs 36,223 crore during April, Rs 40,867 in May and Rs 8,543 in June. The value of inward shipments of gold was Rs 13,225 crore in July, Rs 2,899 crore in August, Rs 3,149 crore in September and Rs 6,433 crore in October, according to the data. The ministry said the data was based on information received through the electronic data interchange only and excludes "manual data." RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal had sought information on whether gold imports had declined after customs duty on the metal was increased. The government raised customs duty on gold to 10 per cent in August from 2 per cent in January 2012, besides imposing other curbs on imports of the metal. The moves were aimed at narrowing the current account deficit (CAD), the difference between the outflow and inflow of foreign currency. The CAD touched a historic high of 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13 and was mainly attributed to high imports of gold and petroleum products. The CAD narrowed to 1.2 per cent of GDP in the second quarter of this financial year after a steep decline in gold imports. The deficit was 4.9 per cent of GDP in the first quarter (April-June). India is the largest importer of gold, which is mainly used to meet demand of the jewellery industry. Imports stood at about 830 tonnes in 2012-13.