India imposes restrictions on import of alloys with over 1% gold
NEW DELHI: India has restricted the import of some alloys that include greater than 1% gold by weight and sure colloidal valuable metals to control the import of gold within the garb of chemical compounds or another type, officers mentioned on Thursday.
Industrial customers can, nevertheless, import such alloys in opposition to an import authorisation, an official added.
The import restrictions are relevant on palladium, rhodium, and iridium alloys in any type (unwrought or powder) consisting of greater than 1% gold. A separate order, additionally issued on Tuesday, restricted import of colloidal valuable metals, which refers to suspensions of gold and silver nanoparticles in a liquid.
“The Directorate Common of Overseas Commerce (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce and Business, has issued Notification No. 18/2025-26 dated seventeenth June 2025, to limit import of alloys of Palladium, Rhodium, and Iridium containing greater than 1% gold by weight,” the commerce ministry mentioned in an announcement on Thursday.
This measure expands upon the present restriction on the import of platinum, thereby making certain uniformity within the import coverage governing valuable metals and their alloys, it mentioned.
On March 5, the federal government shifted platinum alloy imports from the free class to the restricted class, aside from 99% pure platinum alloy.
“On the identical time, the coverage facilitates commerce by permitting free import of alloys containing lower than 1% gold, thereby making certain continued availability of inputs for industrial and manufacturing sectors, together with electronics, auto parts, and specialised chemical industries, with out disruption,” the ministry mentioned.
This calibrated method balances commerce facilitation with the necessity for regulatory oversight, it added.
The restrictions have been imposed in opposition to the backdrop of rising gold imports.
India’s gold imports jumped by over 27.3% from $45.54 billion in 2023-24 to $58 billion in 2024-25.
In March 2025 alone, it noticed a pointy soar of over 192% to $4.47 billion as in comparison with $1.53 billion in the identical month final yr. Strict monitoring and restrictions noticed a couple of 4% dip in gold imports in the course of the first two months of the present monetary yr (April-Might of FY26) to $5.65 billion as in opposition to $5.87 billion in April-Might of FY25.
