High customs duty on gold fuels smuggling

NEW DELHI: The high rate of customs duty on gold may have acted as a deterrent for imports but it resulted in large-scale smuggling. It was highlighted during discussions at the annual meeting of the chief commissioners and directors general of customs and central excise here on Monday.

The customs officers provided gold seizure details which has almost doubled to more than rs 1,100 crore in 2014-15 as compared to Rs 692 crore in the previous year and Rs 99 crore two years ago.



The rise in smuggling and seizures was primarily on account of the government raising customs duty on gold from 8 per cent to 10 per cent in 2013 to discourage high imports.
India is the second largest importer of gold after China. The high rate of duty has also opened smuggling channels because the resultant difference in gold prices in India makes smuggling more remunerative, said an assessment report of the customs.