'Finance ministry should decrease import duty of gold and silver even further'

By Vidit Garg, Director, Kundan Group

"Prior to the 2021 budget, the honorable finance minister, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a decrease in import duty of gold and silver from 12.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent. The move was widely appreciated but our expectation is to bring down this duty to 4 per cent. A decrease in import duty would not only yield an increase in legitimate trade in gold resulting higher duty to the exchequer but also acts as a hedge against grey market smuggling. The duty was increased in the first place to bridge the account deficit in the country prevalent at that time. Apart from this, we also urge the FM to eliminate Commodity Transaction Tax to curb Dabba trading as well as increase GST on gold which would help settle losses against reducing import duty."