India’s 15% bullion duty is pushing more gold and silver trade toward illicit channels
After India raised gold and silver customs duty from 6% to 15% on May 13, enforcement agencies reported a 186% jump in gold-consignment seizures and a more than tenfold rise in silver seizures through June 30. The shift threatens formal bullion and jewellery retailers by widening the price gap with unaccounted supply.
India’s doubling of gold and silver import duty to 15% has coincided with sharply higher smuggling seizures, raising concerns for formal bullion and jewellery trade. The duty change may shift precious-metal flows into informal channels despite increased customs and DRI enforcement.
Why this matters
The bullion-duty risk follows Government of India signals on ₹2.4 lakh crore in PLI investment and rising urea-subsidy pressure, showing policy actions reshaping costs and incentives across retail-linked markets.
retail-company signals are accelerating, up +968700% QoQ.