Finance Minister P Chidambaram appealed to people not to buy so much gold as a way of reducing hefty imports, speaking on television a day after his Budget for 2013-14 surprised traders by keeping gold import duty unchanged at 6 per cent.
"I am hoping that the people of India will heed my appeal and will not demand so much gold," he said.
Traders had expected a rise in duty to 8 per cent in the Budget after a 50 per cent hike on January 21 from 4 per cent was neutralised by falling global prices.
Mr Chidambaram said on Friday that the higher import duty had "brought down gold imports to some extent."
The Finance Minister also said ways to tackle the current account deficit (CAD), which hit 5.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the July to September quarter, were by encouraging domestic production and boosting exports.
Copyright @ Thomson Reuters 2013
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