Gold imports in India have declined 24.15 per cent in 2022-23 to $35.01 billion amid rising prices of the yellow metal and trailing effects of an import duty hike in July.

Commerce ministry data shows that the total gold import during 2021-22 was $46.16 billion.

The decline in imports for the entire year was despite a massive surge of 216.75 per cent in the month of March which industry observers attribute to demand ahead of Akshay Tritiya. India had imported gold worth $3.3 billion in March 2023 compared to $1.04 billion in March 2022.

“One of the major reasons for the fall in gold import was rise in prices of yellow metal. Another fact is that the Indian government had hiked the import duty on July 2022 to keep imports in check. This too may have had its impact in imports,” Colin Shah, former GJEPC chairman and managing director of Kama Jewelry, said on Monday.

India’s domestic gold demand is largely met through imports and it has a bearing on the current account deficit. In a bid to reduce imports the government had increased import duty on gold from 7.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent.