Gold jewellery exports up 14.69% in April

New Delhi-India  (May 18)  India’s gold jewellery exports grew for the third month in a row by 14.69 per cent to $604.42 million in April, according to Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council data.

In April 2013, gold jewellery exports stood at $527 million.

However, the total gems and jewellery exports dipped 16 per cent to $2.48 billion in the first month of the current fiscal.

In order to contain current account deficit, government has increased gold import duty to 10 per cent. This move saw the gems and jewellery exports declining.

According to industry experts, the recent decision of the Reserve Bank to allow more banks to import gold has helped in enhancing the availability of gold and raw material for jewellery in the domestic market.

In March, the RBI had allowed more banks, including Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, to import gold under the 80:20 scheme, a move seen as a precursor to easing restrictions on inward shipments of the metal.

The government had also increased customs duty on gold to 10 per cent from 4 per cent to discourage imports.

Gold imports declined over 74 per cent to $1.75 billion in April due to restrictions imposed by the government on inbound shipments of the precious metal to narrow CAD.

India’s CAD, which is the excess of foreign exchange outflows over inflows, touched a historic high of 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012—13, mainly due to rising imports of petroleum products and gold.