After scrapping an earlier controversial decision, the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has reallocated the special gold import quota of 140 tonnes, roughly worth more than $10 bn, to 341 applicants under the India-UAE comprehensive economic partnership agreement. The majority of the approved applicants have been allocated an import quota of 465 kg of gold, which will attract one per cent lesser import duty than usual. The import quota is for the current financial year.
In March, the DGFT had allocated the same quote to just 78 applications, which was termed as a ‘pre-arranged’ deal by the large bullion players. The special gold import quota is part of India's bilateral deal with the UAE, which will allow approved bullion traders to import 140 tonnes of gold with one per cent lesser import duty than the usual under the scheme known as Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ), a mechanism for import of a set quantity of specific products. The India-UAE free trade pact came into effect on May 1, 2022 and allowed for the concessional tariffs on gold.
In April, the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) had written to DGFT highlighting the lack of transparency in the gold import quota deal. The letter with Zee Business shows that IBJA had objected to the allocation due to non-transparent means of DGFT. After news reports on April 26, the DGFT called for a press conference and said it will initiate fresh quotas.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
