Govt cuts import tariff on gold, hikes silver

The government today slashed the import tariff value of gold to USD 440 per ten gram and raised it on silver to USD 738 per kg, in line with global prices of the precious metals.

The import tariff value is the base price at which the customs duty is determined to prevent under-invoicing.

The tariff value on imported gold was hiked two days back to USD 442 per ten gram, while it was kept unchanged at USD 699 per kg for silver.

Normally, the import tariff value is revised on a fortnightly basis. The sudden revision has taken place in view of volatility in the global prices.

The notification in this regard has been issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), an official statement said.

Apart from precious metals, tariff value on imported brass scrap has been slashed to USD 3,840 per tonne from USD 3,933 per tonne maintained till yesterday.

However, the tariff value on imported vegetable oils like crude soyabean oil, RBD palm oil and others have been raised.

Import tariff value on crude soyabean oil has been increased to USD 1,006 per tonne from USD 952 per tonne and tariff value on RBD palmolein has been raised to USD 900 per tonne from USD 869 per tonne in the review period.

The import tariff value on gold and silver has been changed taking cues from the global market. In Singapore, the yellow metal is ruling down at USD 1322.2 per ounce and white metal at USD 21.87 per ounce.

In the domestic market, gold is being sold at a high premium due to supply crunch caused by government measures to restrict the import of precious metal in an effort to cut current account deficit.

India, the world's largest consumer of gold, imported 393.68 tonnes of the yellow metal during the April-September period of this year, as per official data.

The government has taken several steps to reduce gold imports including hike in custom duties.