Gold seizures by enforcement agencies shot up 62% last fiscal to 4.48 tonne, according to latest official data.
Official agencies seized 4,480 kg gold in 2014-15 compared with 2,760 kg a year before, said a senior government official. In value terms, the seizures were to the tune of Rs 1,120 crore last fiscal against Rs 690 crore in the previous year. The number of cases registered against such seizures has gone up to 4,400 in 2014-15 from 2,700 cases in the previous fiscal and 870 in 2012-13.
Despite the spurt, bullion industry executives say these seizures account for a very tiny part of the overall gold smuggling business. The World Gold Council last year predicted that gold smuggling in India would touch 200 tonne in calendar year 2014 compared with 150-200 tonnes a year before.
Gold seizures have jumped since January 2012, when the government started raising the import duty on the precious metal from a flat Rs 300 per 10 grams. Initially, it was raised to 4% in two phases in 2012 and in 2013 it was raised three times to 10%.
These apart, to control the current account deficit, the central bank in 2013 imposed an 80:20 rule, mandating at least a fifth of the imported gold to be kept aside for re-exports.
Source:- financialexpress.com
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