The Indian gem and jewellery industry wishes that the government would reduce import duty on gold from the current 10 percent to around 2 percent, as the country’s gold imports dropped 13 percent (on y-o-y basis) this year, reports say. The imports took a fall despite the high imports in November this year which stood at 151.58 tonnes, rising 38 percent from October this year. This strong buying was an effect of the industry fearing the government would further restrict gold imports as there had been a widening of the country’s current account deficit in the July-September period this year.

The increased import duty was a measure undertaken by the government to curb gold imports, as it opined this to be the large contributor to the widening CAD. The industry feels that imports in 2014 would be within the range of around 650 tonnes which is less compared to 2013 figures which clocked 750 tonnes.