NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday imposed import restrictions on certain gold jewellery and articles, a move which would help cut import of non-essential items and contain trade deficit.

Now an importer would need a permission of licence from the government for importing these gold products.

However, the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said that the restrictions will not be there for imports under the India-UAE free trade agreement.

In a notification, the DGFT said that the import policy of these products “has been amended from free to restricted with immediate effect”.

Imports of pearls, precious and semi-precious stones dipped by 25.36 per cent to about USD 4 billion during April-May this fiscal. Gold imports too contracted by about 40 per cent to USD 4.7 billion in the same period.

Overall merchandise imports during April-May this fiscal declined 10.24 per cent to USD 107 billion. The merchandise trade deficit for April-May 2023 stood at USD 37.26 billion against USD 40.48 billion during April-May 2022.

Import of certain gold jewelery stood at over USD 110 million in April-may this fiscal and it was mainly imported from countries like UAE, Indonesia and the US.

Colin Shah, MD, Kama Jewelry, and former chairman of gems and jewellery export promotion council, said, “Though the steps by the government is to balance the macroeconomics. Gold an a raw material should be available at reasonable prices for the Gems & Jewellery industry to maintain the competitive edge for exports.–(PTI)

Reader correspondent