INDIA’S gold imports declined about 5.5 per cent in value term to £22.39 billion ($29.5bn) during April-February of the current financial year, data from India’s commerce ministry showed.
Total imports of the precious metal in the first 11 months of the financial year 2017-18 stood at £23.63bn.
After witnessing negative growth for three consecutive months - October, November, and December 2018 - imports of the precious metal moved up by 38.16 per cent to £1.75bn in January this year.
The imports again moved down by 10.8 per cent to £1.95bn in February.
A declining trend in the commodity prices may have limited India’s gold imports, market analysts said.
A major share of the gold imports moves to country’s jewellery industry.
India’s total gold imports jumped by 22.43 per cent to 955.16 tonnes in 2017-18, against 780.14 tonnes recorded in 2016-17.
Meanwhile, India’s gems and jewellery exports too declined by 6.3 per cent to £21.55bn during the first 11 months of the current fiscal.
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