340 tonnes of gold smuggled into India every year: Jewellers

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, February 18

The recent raid conducted by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and STF Punjab on a jeweller’s shop at Sarafan Bazaar has led to much commotion among the members of the community.

The DRI had raided a jewellery shop on Wednesday and one of the owners had been arrested for the alleged smuggling of gold into the country.

On the issue of smuggled gold, jewellers said over 340 tonnes of gold are smuggled into India every year from countries like Thailand, Bangladesh, Gulf countries. They said this was because of the heavy import duty and Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST) imposed by the government.

According to jewellers, a total of 720 tonnes of gold come to India every year, of which 380 tonnes of the yellow metal come legally, by giving 15 per cent import duty and 3 percent IGST, while the remaining about 340 tonnes of gold are smuggled.

Anand Sekri, president, Jewellery Association, said: “The government needs to think over gold smuggling in a serious manner. If import duty is decreased, the smuggling of gold will also be curbed to an extent as the gap in the price would be squeezed”, he said.

The DRI had raided a jewellery shop on Wednesday and when the owners had resisted the raid, a police complaint was lodged and one of the owners was arrested as well.

Sources say the jeweller had allegedly smuggled 2 kg of gold into India from Dubai. His shop got sealed yesterday and an FIR was lodged against him at Kotwali, following a complaint by the DRI department.