India Doubles Gold Import Duty to 10%; MCX Futures Spike 6%, PM Urges Wedding Buyers to Wait
Government doubled import duty on gold, silver and platinum to 10% effective May 13, lifting MCX gold to Rs 1,62,334/10g and silver to Rs 2,95,805/kg. PM Modi asked households to defer wedding gold purchases for a year to ease pressure on FX reserves after FY26 gold imports hit $71.98bn, up 24%. Tanishq, Kalyan and Titan face demand shock.
What happened
Government of India · Government doubled gold, silver and platinum import duties to 10% effective May 13, sending MCX gold and silver futures up 6%. PM Modi
Key facts
- import duty doubled 5% to 10%
- MCX gold +6% to Rs 1,62,334/10g
- MCX silver +6% to Rs 2,95,805/kg
- FY26 gold imports $71.98 bn, +24%
- jewellery findings 5% duty, platinum 5.4%
Why this matters
Window opens to acquire stressed regional jewellers and lock in hedging or gold-on-loan partnerships before duty-driven working-capital strain forces distressed M&A at better multiples.