Import duty on gold jewellery likely to be hiked to 15%.

NEW DELHI: The government is likely to increase import duty on jewellery from 10 per cent to 15 per cent with a view to check inward shipment of gold besides protecting domestic manufacturers.

According to sources, a notification to this effect is likely to be issued shortly.

Besides containing import of gold, the proposed hike in jewellery duty seeks to provide level playing field to domestic jewellery makers.

The government had last month hiked import duty on gold for the third time in 2013 to 10 per cent. Duties for silver and platinum were also increased to 10 per cent. Besides, customs duty on gold dore bars, ore or concentrate were raised to 8 per cent from 6 per cent.

Further, the RBI also restricted gold imports on a consignment basis by banks.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had earlier said gold import would be contained below 845 tonnes shipped in last fiscal.

Gold imports in value terms fell to $650 million in August, from $2.2 billion in July.

India is the largest importer of gold, which is mainly utilised to meet the demand of jewellery industry.

High gold import strained India's Current Account Deficit (CAD) which touched a high of 4.8 per cent of GDP in the 2012-13 fiscal.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com