New Delhi : The government has restricted the import of certain categories of silver bars with immediate effect amid the ongoing West Asia conflict. Under the revised import policy notified by the Commerce Ministry, silver bars with 99.9 per cent purity have been moved from the “Free” category to the “Restricted” category. Other specified silver bars have also been shifted to the restricted import category.
The government had significantly increased the import duty on precious metals and also imposed a 100 kg limit on gold imports under the Advance Authorisation scheme. The scheme allows jewellery exporters to import raw materials or input materials at zero duty. The government has also sharply hiked the import duty on gold and silver to 15 per cent to discourage purchase and trim non-essential imports in the backdrop of a ballooning import bill amid the West Asia crisis.
Consequential changes have also been made to other items such as gold/silver dore, coins, findings, etc. The moves came within days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call for curbs on gold purchases, along with other austerity measures to reduce avoidable foreign exchange expenditure. “The Import Policy of items covered under ITC HS Code 71069221 and 71069229 has been revised from ‘Free’ to ‘Restricted’, subject to Policy Condition No. 7 of Chapter 71 of ITC (HS) 2022, Schedule-I (Import Policy), with immediate effect,” the notification said.
The latest development comes amid a broader tightening of precious metals imports by the government in recent weeks. Earlier this week, the government capped gold imports under the Advance Authorisation scheme at 100 kilograms per licence and tightened compliance rules for jewellery exporters.
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