Indian Trade Minister Anand Sharma, who spoke at a press conference in Delhi a few days ago, said he raised the issue of easing measures taken by the Ministry of Finance to restrict gold imports, as they lead to smuggling and damage to the precious stones industry and jewelry.
Last year, the Indian government imposed restrictions on gold imports, seeking to reduce the trade deficit, and increased the import duty to a record 10%. It actually equated the volume of gold consumption to the export of gold jewelry, in order to push the flow of funds from outside.
Meanwhile, since the beginning of the year, jewelry exports from India have fallen by more than 50%. Despite the rules that ensure the supply of gold to exporters, jewelry manufacturers, according to some reports, suffer from delays in the purchase of gold caused by the long passage of customs procedures.