India Mulls Duty-Free Gold Imports from Russia

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): According to media reports, Indian government is considering a proposal to import gold from Russia to provide support to country’s gems and jewellery export sector. The announcement to this effect was made by Suresh Prabhu, Minister for Commerce and Industry, during an interview. The proposed scheme, if implemented, will help the country to save vital foreign exchange and also contribute to significant reduction in import bill in US dollar terms.

According to the Minister, the implementation of the proposal is subject to agreement by the exporters to ship out the entire consignment after value addition. The import will be on bond-basis and the consignment will be exempted from duty. However, the gold thus imported will not be allowed for domestic use. The entire gold will have to be re-exported after value addition, Prabhu noted. The proposal initially presented before Russian authorities during the Minister’s recent visit to that country, will now be discussed at the highest level, he added.

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The idea assumes significance, mainly due to Russia’s possession of huge gold reserves and the existing huge domestic potential for jewellery exports from India. The duty-free gold imports are expected to send big relief to the jewellery industry, as it has long been demanding abolition of 10% import duty on gold bars. The Minister has also called for increased imports of rough diamonds from Russia to India. Incidentally, India has the world’s biggest cutting and polishing centre.

Further, the Minster has invited industrialists from Russia to visit the country during the month of September, as part of efforts to promote bilateral business between the countries. As per recent trade statistics, the bilateral trade between India and Russia reported marked improvement from $6.2 billion in 2015-’16 fiscal to $7.5 billion in 2016-’17.