The country’s gold imports rose by 28.73 percent to $69 billion during the period from April to February 2025-2026 due to rising prices of the precious metal, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.
Gold imports stood at $53.52 billion in the April-February period 2024-25.
The data showed that the rise in gold imports pushed the country’s trade deficit (the difference between imports and exports) to $310.60 billion during the 11 months of the last fiscal year, compared to $261.80 billion during the period from April to February 2024-2025.
Prices of the yellow metal are hovering around $1,51,500 per 10 grams (including all taxes) in the national capital.
Switzerland is the largest source of gold imports, with a share of about 40 percent, followed by the United Arab Emirates (more than 16 percent) and South Africa (about 10 percent).
The precious metal constitutes more than 5 percent of the country’s total imports.
The country’s total imports from Switzerland rose by 11.57 percent to US$23.5 billion during the period April-February 2025-2026. In February, gold imports from that country rose 719.30 percent year-on-year to US$2.71 billion.
India is the second largest consumer of gold in the world after China. Imports are mainly concerned with demand by the jewelry industry. Imports have implications for India’s current account deficit (CAD).
The Canadian dollar rose to US$13.2 billion, or 1.3 per cent of GDP, in the December quarter from US$11.3 billion (1.1 per cent of GDP) in the same period last year, mainly due to a higher trade deficit, according to Reserve Bank of India data.
However, the current account deficit narrowed to $30.1 billion (1 percent of GDP) in the April-December 2025 period, from $36.6 billion (1.3 percent of GDP) in the same period last year.
CAD occurs when the value of imported goods, services, and other receipts exceeds the value of exported goods, services, and other receipts by a country in a given period.
Silver imports jumped by 142.87 percent during the 11-month period, reaching 11.43 billion US dollars. Silver has industrial applications. It is used in sectors such as electronics, automobiles and pharmaceuticals.
To discourage imports, the government last week imposed restrictions on the import of all forms of gold, silver and platinum.
