From June, only BIS accredited refiners can import raw gold

Mumbai: The government has mandated that only BIS accredited refine ries will be allowed to im port dore, or raw gold, effec tive June 1 this year. This could potentially affect 20% of gold supply through dore, estimated at an annual 150-250 tonnes depending on premium that spot gold trades at to its landed price.

“DGFT has issued a circular permitting only BIS accredited gold refineries to import dore from June,“ said Rajesh Khosla, MD, MMTC-Pamp. “There are around 7-8 refineries out of the two odd dozen that meet BIS norms on quality. The others might scurry to get accredited and the BIS will have to take a call.“

Sudheesh Nambiath, senior analyst at GFMS Thomson Reuters, feels that supply hiccups could be “possibly “ worked around through proxy imports by accredited refiners for nonBIS accredited ones in exchange for a decided premium.

India on average imports 750-800 tonnes of gold. This includes refined bars and dore gold. Import duty on refined gold is 10%, but dore can be imported by gold refiners in excise free zones at 8.75%. This gives them an over 1% profit margin after expenses.