India's gold import route changing course for a benefit all jewellers want

To meet its massive appetite for gold, India is getting more resourceful about where it gets the precious metal from.

For decades, the standard playbook was simple: import pristine, perfectly stamped bullion straight from quiet Swiss vaults. Today, that traditional pipeline is getting a makeover.

Driven by tax incentives, preferential tariffs under the India-United Arab Emirates (UAE) trade pact, and expanding domestic refining capacity, India’s gold importers are quietly changing routes at the starting mark: their sourcing routes.


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Swiss gold loses glitter

India’s gold sourcing has undergone a significant geographic shift over the past five years, driven largely by the expansion of the domestic refining industry. As refining capacity has grown, Indian refiners have developed more established supply chains for doré, reducing the market’s traditional reliance on refined gold from Switzerland, Debajit Saha, Lead Metals Analyst at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), told ET Online in an email response.

Doré is a semi-refined form of gold, typically containing other metals such as silver, which is further processed at refineries to produce high-purity gold bars and coins.

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“The 0.65% duty advantage available to refiners has reinforced that shift, while the India–UAE trade agreement has opened an additional import channel through its tariff-rate quota. Together, these changes have diversified India’s sources of gold, with Switzerland losing share as alternative suppliers and routes gain prominence,” Saha said.

Under Indian tariff rules, doré is taxed 0.65 percentage points lower than finished bullion, giving domestic processors a clear margin incentive to refine locally rather than as heavily on finished bullion from Zurich.

Now, the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) came into force in May 2022. Under the agreement, India allowed gold imports from the UAE at tariffs one percentage point lower than normal import duties through a Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) system.

The quota was initially set at 120 tonnes annually and will rise to 200 tonnes from 2027, covering nearly 25% of India's gold imports, as per Global Trade Research Institute (GTRI).

India had raised the standard import duty on gold from 6% to 15% with effect from May 13, 2026. Qualifying gold imported under the UAE quota is subject to a duty of 14%, a one percentage point concession against the standard rate. Meanwhile, eligible raw gold doré carries a 14.35% import tariff—0.65 percentage points below the 15% standard rate on finished bullion.

The Dubai factor

Switzerland, the UAE and the United Kingdom have long been major sources of bullion for India, while African and Latin American nations have supplied much of the doré used by domestic refiners.

But that trade map is being redrawn.

Switzerland's share of India's bullion imports has nearly halved to 21.9% in fiscal 2026 from 42.4% five years earlier, while the UAE's share climbed to 16.5% from 10.8%, according to Sehul Bhatt, Director at Crisil Intelligence.

Bhatt told ET Online that the shift has been driven in part by the India-UAE CEPA. “Expanding domestic refining capacity has also boosted doré imports from Ghana, Chile and Peru over the past five years, further diversifying India's gold supply chains.”

India imported gold worth $649.4 million from the UAE in June 2026, up 175.2% from $235.9 million in June 2025.

Adding a word of caution to India’s growing inclination towards UAE for gold, GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said, "The trend raises concerns because the UAE neither mines gold nor carries out major processing activity. Much of the trade appears to involve routing gold from third countries through Dubai simply to benefit from lower Indian tariffs."

GTRI recommended tighter origin rules, a review of precious metal concessions under FTAs, and exclusion of gold, silver, platinum, and diamonds from future trade agreements to protect India's trade balance and foreign exchange reserves.

“Trade agreements such as the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) can facilitate trade, but it is important to ensure that rules of origin are implemented effectively and that tariff benefits are linked to genuine value addition,” said Manoj Ravi, CEO, Supra Pacific Financial Services.

India’s gold mix

Not all the gold entering India serves the same purpose. Some arrive as doré, others come as refined bullion, ready for use by jewellers.

The distinction matters as India's expanding refining capacity reshapes its sourcing patterns, opening the door to suppliers of raw gold beyond traditional bullion hubs.

Central bank purchases follow a different route altogether. These are driven by reserve management, rather than demand from jewellers or retail investors, said Saha.

India's gold reserves stood at 880.52 tonnes in the second quarter of 2026, unchanged from the previous quarter.

The route gold takes into India also depends on who is importing it and where it will be processed or used. Doré imported by a refinery in Haryana is typically routed to Delhi, while metal intended for jewellery exports can enter through Mumbai to serve units in the Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ), Adarsh Diwe, Research Consultant, Metals Focus, which partners with the World Gold Council (WGC) as its primary external research provider, told ET Online.

Central bank imports are separate, and their shipment routes are not publicly disclosed, he added.

The distinction is significant for a country that imports an estimated 700-900 tonnes of gold annually and ranks as the world's second-largest consumer after China. While jewellery and investment demand drive much of its gold trade, official purchases serve a separate purpose: building and managing the country's foreign exchange reserves.

Trump card

The route through which gold enters the country, whether as doré for refining or refined bullion for manufacturing and investment, has implications for domestic value addition and the competitiveness of the jewellery industry.

Evolving US trade policies could also influence global bullion flows, depending on the measures introduced and their impact on specific trade channels, said Ravi.

“Going forward, India’s focus should be on building a transparent, resilient and cost-efficient gold supply chain that strengthens domestic refining, supports the jewellery ecosystem and ensures that trade benefits translate into meaningful economic value for the country,” he added.