When you think of Gold you think of India—world's largest
consumer of Gold. Official Gold imports into India are estimated at
700 tonnes for 1998. This figure is based upon data collected from
gold importing banks, official bodies and declared imports by
non-resident Indians. This figure does not include gold jewelry
imported by Indians returning after foreign travel and Gold
smuggled into India.
Prior to 1992, official import of gold into India was banned except
against value added export of jewelry. Even Indians returning from
foreign travel were not even allowed to bring in jewelry in very
small quantity for personal use. The only channel for import was
smuggling. In 1992 the government liberalized its policy and
permitted "non-resident Indians" to bring in 5 kilograms of Gold
per person on payment of import duty in hard currency at a
reasonable rate of about 7% of the gold price. The import policy
has been further liberalized to allow 10 kilograms per
person.
