Custom Department Strict: 1200 kg of Smuggled Gold Seized in June Quarter

Custom officials have seized around 1200 kg of smuggled gold in the April-June quarter. This is 23 percent more than the same period last year.
Custom Department Strict: 1200 kg of Smuggled Gold Seized in June Quarter

In recent months, the Smuggling of gold has increased in the country and strict steps are being taken to stop it. The result of these strenuous efforts is that Indian Customs officials have seized 1197.7 kg of smuggled gold in the April-June quarter. This is 23.2 percent higher than the same period last year.

India is the second-largest consumer of gold. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has increased the Import tax on gold from 10 to 12.5 percent in the budget presented in July. A senior official from the news agency Reuters said that smugglers are now benefiting more due to this. Due to this increase in import tax, smuggling in India from Middle East countries has increased. Not only this, because of this smuggling, the illegal exchange of foreign currency has also increased.

Significantly, in 2013, the Indian government had increased the import tax on gold to 10 percent so that the demand could be curbed. It was necessary to do so due to the growing current account deficit of the country because most of the gold is imported. After this, in 2017, sales tax of 3% was imposed on gold. Due to all this, smugglers started seeing good opportunities in India, who sell them by stealing gold here to save tax.

4058 kg Gold Seized in a year

In the last financial year ended March 31, 4,058 kg gold was seized by the Customs authorities and 3,223.3 kg gold was seized in the last financial year i.e. 2017-18. In this way, smugglers save about 15.5 percent tax on the price of gold and their gold is much cheaper.

According to an estimate by the World Gold Council, in the year 2018, about 95 tonnes of gold was smuggled into India. However, some experts even believe that the amount of gold smuggled is actually more than double. Gold smugglers usually bring kilo bars in India, which are then converted into jewelery or coins and small bars.

Experts believe that until tax is not reduced, smuggling of gold in India will remain an attractive business for smugglers. It is worth noting that at present, the price of gold is running around Rs 40 thousand per 10 grams.

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