Gold imports fall in April for the fifth consecutive month; gold jewelery exports fall by 98.74 percent
Gold and silver prices may have skyrocketed between the Corona crisis and lockdown, but the reality is that not only has gold imports declined but gems and jewelery exports have fallen by 98.74 percent in April. The country’s gold imports fell for the fifth consecutive month in April. Due to the global lockdown due to the Kovid-19 transition, it fell 100 percent to $ 28.3 million. It was $ 39.7 billion in April 2019 according to the Commerce Ministry data. The fall in gold imports has helped in reducing the country’s trade deficit. The country’s trade deficit stood at $ 6.8 billion in April compared to $ 15.33 billion in April last year. The country’s gold imports have continued to decline since December.
India is the world’s largest importer
India is the world’s largest gold importer. The country imports around 800 to 900 tonnes of gold every year. Gems and jewelery exports from the country fell 98.74 percent to $ 36 million in April. The country’s gold imports fell 14.23 percent to $ 28.2 billion in FY 2019-20 from $ 32.91 billion in 2018-19. Gold imports place a huge burden on the current account deficit of the country. Current account deficit refers to the difference between the arrival and departure of foreign capital into the country.
Ratnabhushan exports down 38.8 percent in March
The exports of gems and jewelery from India fell by 38.81 percent to Rs 13,744.60 crore in March, the last month of the last financial year. In March last year, the figure was equivalent to Rs 22,463.17 crore. According to the Gems and Jewelery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the total exports of this region in the year 2019-20 stood at Rs 2,51,096,30 crore. This is 8.91 percent less than the Rs 2,75,671.80 crore recorded in 2018-19. The corona virus epidemic has affected businesses worldwide.
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GJEPC vice-president Colin Shah told PTI-language that these figures reflect the decline in demand for gems and jewelery worldwide due to the Kovid-19 epidemic. He said that ‘the government should focus on this area immediately and bring a special package for it. Meanwhile, exports of carved and polished diamonds were down 45 per cent in March this year. In March last year, the export of such diamonds was Rs 12,910.44 crore. This time it was 7100.75 crores. Polished diamonds were down by 20.75 per cent to Rs 1,31,980.87 crore for the entire financial year. Exports in the year 2018-19 were Rs 1,66,532.07 crore.
Gold jewelery exports fell 40.07 percent
Similarly, the exports of gold jewelery fell 40.07 percent to Rs 4,152.39 crore in March, its exports in March 2019 was Rs 6,929.11 crore. However, the export of gold jewelery for the entire financial year increased by 3.57 per cent to Rs 84,747.08 crore from Rs 81,824.57 crore a year ago.
Silver jewelery exports up 105.60 percent
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Exports of silver jewelery increased by 105.60 percent to Rs 12,018.09 crore in April-March 2019-20. This was equivalent to Rs 5,845.37 crore a year ago. Exports of colored gems fell 18.18 per cent to Rs 2,272.44 crore during the year. In the same period, the region’s imports fell by 5.74 percent to $ 24.01 billion, which was equivalent to $ 25.48 billion a year ago. In the last financial year, imports of diamonds were down 16.25 per cent to the equivalent of $ 12.68 billion.