The Centre has imposed fresh import restrictions on silver, days after sharply increasing customs duties on precious metals as part of a broader push to tighten control over bullion inflows and manage the country's import bill.
In a notification issued on Saturday, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said the import policy for silver, including silver plated with gold and platinum, has been revised from "free" to "restricted" with immediate effect. This means importers will now require prior government approval to bring several categories of silver into the country.
The revised framework covers imports of silver bars, unwrought silver, semi-manufactured silver forms and silver powder. Certain categories of imports will also be subject to regulations prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), according to the notification issued under the ITC (HS) classification system.
The move follows the government's decision earlier this week to raise import duty on gold and silver to 15% from 6%, significantly increasing the cost of importing precious metals into India.
At the same time, the government has tightened rules for duty-free gold imports by gems and jewellery exporters under the Advance Authorisation (AA) scheme. Under the revised norms, gold imports through the scheme will now be capped at 100 kg per licence.
The DGFT has also introduced stricter compliance checks for first-time applicants under the AA scheme. New applicants will now undergo mandatory physical inspection of manufacturing facilities before approvals are granted.
The latest measures signal the government's intent to strengthen oversight of precious metals trade while curbing excessive imports and improving regulatory monitoring across the bullion sector.
No comments:
Post a Comment