India Restricts Certain Silver Jewellery Imports After 'Unusual' Surge Raises Red Flags

India has tightened the norms around the import of silver jewellery items, as per an official notification issued on Wednesday. Under the revised rules, the import of unstudded silver jewellery has been amended from 'free' to 'restricted'.

The curbs will remain in effect till March 31, 2026, according to the notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

The move comes after the Commerce Ministry noticed a surge in unstudded silver jewellery from some countries, including Thailand, over the past two to three months, sources privy to the matter told NDTV Profit.

Officials, through surveys, concluded that rule of origin for domestic value addition were being circumvented to take benefits under ASEAN free trade agreement, the persons added.

Accordingly, the Commerce Ministry moved swiftly to restrict such imports, they said, while adding that the products facing curbs are mainly consumer or retail-related, hence no disruption to the industry is expected.

The imports of these products from Thailand had surged 10 times from four metric tonne to 40 metric tonnes in recent months, as per the sources. The share of imports from the Southeast Asian country had gone up from 78% to 98%, which resulted in suspicion, they added.

Silver prices have been soaring sharply, with its returns identical with gold — seen as more precious among the two metals. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, silver futures are presently trading at Rs 1,34,336 per kilogram, which marks a surge of around 40% in 2025 so far.