The central government has substantially raised the base import prices for precious metals, according to an official notification by Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) on Monday.
For gold, the base import price has been hiked by $5 per 10 grams or nearly 0.37% to $1,348/10 gm. Whereas, for silver the base import price has been increased by $83/kg or nearly 4% to $ $2,175/kg.
Notably, the Centre had cut the base import price of gold by $80 to $1,343 per 10 gm and silver by $276 to $2,092 per kg just three days ago.
The price hikes comes to ease pressure on India's forex reserves, which have been under strain because of the West Asia conflict. This is the second import duty hike on Gold in two months as last month the government hiked import levies on gold and silver to 15% in order to curb non-essential imports.
The value of gold reserves held by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rose by $1.98 billion on a weekly basis to $114.58 billion as on June 5, official data showed. Overall forex reserves, however, fell by $711 million to $681.61 billion, largely as value of foreign currency asset (FCA) reduced.
Overall FCA, the largest part of forex reserve, fell $2.70 billion on week to $543.44 billion.
Following the initial hike, curbs around silver imports were tightened as the government imposed fresh restrictions that required traders to obtain a government licence to bring the precious metal into the country.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had issued a notification changing the import policy for specified silver bars from 'free' to 'restricted' with immediate effect.
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Doubling down on this, the Centre in the beginning of the June said the precious metal can now be imported only after obtaining the Directorate General of Foreign Trade's approval, when routed through banks or other RBI-nominated agencies.
The regulatory nod is also required for imports of silver through DGFT-approved entities. The rule is applicable for routing the metal through the India International Bullion Exchange.
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