Gold, Silver Rates Today Live: Gold Imports From Dubai Likely To Rise After Duty Hike, Says GTRI

At 3:09 pm on Wednesday, the MCX gold June futures contract were 5.57% up at Rs 1,61,678 per 10 grams, while the MCX silver July futures rose 6.16% to Rs 2,96,249 per kg.

Reacting on government's decision to hike import duty, M.P. Ahammad, Chairman, Malabar Group said, "While higher import duties may influence short-term buying patterns and lead consumers to become more value-conscious, India’s underlying affinity towards gold, particularly for weddings, savings, and cultural occasions, remains fundamentally strong."
 
Highlighting a shift in demand, he added, "The duty revision may lift retail jewellery prices in the near term, and customers, particularly first-time and investment-led buyers, will take a moment to recalibrate. What we expect over the coming quarters is not a contraction in demand so much as a shift in how that demand is met. Exchange of old gold for new jewellery, already a meaningful share of transactions at organized retailers, will become the dominant mode of purchase."
 

 Ahammad further noted, "Malabar Gold & Diamonds has put forward in our proposal to the Hon'ble Finance Minister and the Hon'ble Commerce & Industry Minister on strengthening the Gold Monetisation Scheme, making it easier and more rewarding for households to deposit idle gold, and bringing organized jewellers formally into the GMS chain as the customer-facing layer of the scheme."

In a post on X, Nithin Kamath said, "The news about import duties on gold and silver going up to 15% came late last night. The interesting thing: neither open interest, prices, nor volume in Gold and Silver showed any unusual moves in the hours leading up to the announcement."

He added, "If this had happened in the United States, I’m fairly sure some of the people close to the decision-making process would have found a way to trade it, either through regulated futures markets, other derivative contracts, or prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi. We’ve seen versions of this with crude."

Following the gold import duty hike, an increase in imports from Dubai via free trade agreement is likely, think tank GTRI noted.

GTRI said that the move will also change the economics of precious metal imports coming through the United Arab Emirates under the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

India had permitted gold imports from Dubai at tariffs one percentage point lower than the normal Most- Favoured Nation rate via tariff rate quota system.

(Source: PTI)

Gold And Silver Prices In Bengaluru — May 13

• 24K gold price in Bengaluru - Rs 1,62,860/10 gms
• 22K gold price in Bengaluru - Rs 1,49,288/10 gms
• Silver price in Bengaluru - Rs 2,96,510/ kg

Gold And Silver Prices In Mumbai — May 13

• 24K gold price in Mumbai - Rs 1,62,830/10 gms
• 22K gold price in Mumbai - Rs 1,49,261/10 gms
• Silver price in Mumbai - Rs 2,96,180/ kg

Gold And Silver Prices In New Delhi — May 13

• 24K gold price in Delhi - Rs  1,62,560/10 gms
• 22K gold price in Delhi - Rs 1,49,013/10 gms
• Silver price in Delhi - Rs  2,95,630/ kg

According to Harshal Dasani, Business Head, INVAsset PMS, "The Prime Minister's recent appeal urging Indian households to moderate gold purchases is, paradoxically, likely to deepen the very demand it sought to temper. Indian gold demand has historically run inverse to official discouragement; duty hikes and moral-suasion campaigns have without exception been followed by stronger offtake through both formal and unorganised channels. The cultural anchor is too deep, and the average household reads such commentary as a contrarian signal of underlying strength."

At 12:48 pm on Wednesday, the MCX gold June futures contract were 5.67%  or Rs 8,684 up at Rs 1,61,830 per 10 grams, while the MCX silver July futures rose 6.52% or Rs 18,189 to Rs 2,97,251 per kg.

The Indian government hiked import duties on gold and silver from 6% to 15%,  two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the citizens to postpone their gold purchases, in order to save foreign exchange reserves amid the Middle East conflict.