Customs officials are busy at ports and airports, scanning passengers to ensure that COVID-19 virus-affected people are traced. So, officials are not able to focus much on baggage checking. This could lead to more gold getting smuggled into the country as luggage check at airports is now random unlike earlier where every bag was checked thoroughly.
Consumers during the quarter sold 37.9 tonnes of old gold, which is the highest quarterly sale after September 2016, when old gold sale, or scrap supply, was 39 tonnes.
Levy in India one of the highest in the world; finance minister urges banks to tell customers not to invest in the metal.
Amidst media investigations alleging that peacekeepers from Indian Army were embroiled in gold and ivory smuggling and giving arms to militias in Congo, Defence Minister A K Antony said, "Anyone found guilty will not be spared". The allegations, Antony said, were being probed by United Nations investigators.
This "Special Eleven Team" has been equipped with a dedicated control room, a senior officer said.
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40-50 tonnes of gold may have been smuggled into India in July-September; industry seeks duty cut
The commerce ministry has called a meeting on Monday to discuss tighter norms amid reports of increased round-tripping of gold
The scheme is yet to take off.
The investigation agency said during the custody, Suresh had disclosed that she had kept proceeds of the crime at the bank lockers and invested as deposits in various banks.
Huge margins, high custom duty and increasing demand among youngsters have led to exponential increase in smuggling of foreign cigarettes.
Breaking his silence over the matter, Vijayan on Tuesday sounded tough and said a high-level probe by a top-ranking officer would be held into the charges raised by the MLA.
With import duty on gold raised to 8 per cent, smugglers are back at work.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced income tax relief for the middle class, a Rs 2 lakh crore outlay for job creation schemes over the next five years and a spending splurge for states run by her party's new coalition partners as she unveiled the Modi 3.0 government's first budget after the general elections.
The government and the Reserve Bank had also imposed certain other restrictions on its shipments, including linking of imports to exports to prevent outgo of the foreign exchange.
Move comes after agencies unearth several cases of misuse of the 80:20 scheme.
The government hiked import duty on gold to 10 per cent and the RBI also imposed curbs on its imports by linking it with exports.
The senior Congress leader was in New Delhi to campaign in Maharashtra Assembly polls.
The Ayush ministry has been roped in by the BSF for the project. The ministry has provided the border-guarding force with the beehives and required expertise to fix those on the alloy-made "smart fence".
Sales of gold coins and bars should be curbed after reaching around 300 tonnes
Imports are down also because local traders are clearing unaccounted stock after introduction of 1 per cent excise duty
Instead of hiking duties, he plans to introduce inflation-indexed instruments to help curb a record current account deficit.
While the government has not made the report public, sources said the panel had recommended a sharp cut in all taxes on the gold business, including import duty and goods and services tax which amounts to over 13%.
The illegal trade in red sanders wood, which sells for up to Rs 80 lakh a tonne in some Asian countries, involves a complex nexus of smugglers and impoverished woodcutters.
The Reserve Bank too imposed a series of curbs to restrict gold imports.
With gold smuggling rising, jewellers have to be sure of the source of the gold being exchanged.
The recent restrictions on gold imports will encourage smuggling and grey markets activities in the country.
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In august last year, the government had raised import duty on gold and silver to 10 per cent to curb the surging imports and burgeoning CAD.
Global gold demand hit an 11-year low in 2020 at 3,759.6 tonnes, mainly due to a weak October-December quarter and the COVID-19 related disruptions across the world driving a muted consumer sentiment throughout the year, the World Gold Council (WGC) said in a report. The overall consumer demand during 2019 was at 4,386.4 tonnes, while in 2009 the overall demand was at 3,385.8 tonnes, according the WGC's 2020 Gold Demand Trends report. Global gold demand dropped by 28 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 783.4 tonnes in the fourth quarter compared to 1,082.9 tonnes during the October-December period of 2019, the report stated.
The Kerala high court on Tuesday granted bail to Swapna Suresh in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act case registered by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the sensational gold smuggling through diplomatic channel.
The Kerala government on Friday decided to recommend a judicial inquiry against central probe agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, which are investigating the gold and dollar smuggling cases.
Over three kg of gold, worth Rs 91 lakh, was seized on Sunday in two separate cases at Chennai and Kochi airports.
However, some experts, including RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, have favoured doing away with curbs on gold imports because they lead to smuggling.
Gold imports, which peaked at 162 tonnes in May, came down to 19.3 tonnes in November.
The scheme, touted as a panacea to burgeoning CAD, was a huge flop that fostered a spike in smuggling and allowed several Gitanjali-like players to make a killing
Despite the recent imposition of import rule and high duties, the yellow metal continues to attract buyers.
Govt clamps have resulted in 93% decline in April-November
The government on Friday reduced the import tariff value on gold and silver to $420 per 10 grams and $645 per kg, respectively, taking cues from firm global prices.
Gold prices are likely to rise by up to Rs 700 per 10 gram in the short term with tapered demand following the government decision to hike import duty on the precious metal, according to jewellers and analysts.
