India doubles gold, silver customs duty to 15% to rein in bullion import bill
Government of India raised gold and silver customs duty from 6% to 15% and platinum to 15.4%, targeting a FY26 bullion bill that ballooned to $84bn despite volume drops. Analysts at Barclays and GTRI warn CEPA arbitrage with UAE (7% silver tariff, 200-tonne TRQ by 2027) and record global prices could blunt impact and fuel smuggling.
India more than doubled gold and silver customs duty to 15% to curb non-essential imports, but elevated global prices and CEPA arbitrage with UAE may limit import bill reduction and spur smuggling.
Why this matters
Follows projections of a 60-tonne demand cut and $2.5B import savings, with the UAE CEPA route tightened to 14% from May 2026 as Mumbai 24K gold hit ₹1.63 lakh.
Retail-brand signals steady at 46 over the last 90 days.