Budget Impacts on Gold and Silver: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced reduction in custom duty on gold and silver from 10% to 6%. Additionally, the Finance Minister further informed about reducing the customs duty on platinum to 6.4%. After this, a huge decline is being seen in the prices of gold and silver today. Gold on MCX has now come to Rs 68792. Whereas, silver came at Rs 85125. There is a record fall in the future prices of gold and silver today. Gold futures for August 5 have fallen by 5.40% to Rs 68792. There is a decline of 4.57% in silver.
Today in the bullion market, gold became cheaper by Rs 609 and opened at Rs 72609 per gram. Whereas, silver became cheaper by Rs 620 per kg at the rate of Rs 87576. “To enhance domestic value addition in gold and precious metal jewelery in the country, I propose to reduce the customs duty on gold and silver to 6 per cent and on platinum to 6.4 per cent,” the Finance Minister said while announcing the Union Budget 2024. .
Sitharaman further announced to reduce the production cost on steel and copper. “I propose to remove BCD on ferro nickel and blister copper. I am continuing with zero BCD on ferrous scrap and nickel cathode and a concessional BCD of 2.5 per cent on copper scrap,” she said.
Jewelers upset due to reduction in custom duty
Responding to the reduction in custom duty on gold and silver, Atul Saraf, Director, Aishpra Gems and Jewels, said, “This budget is very good for the jewelery industry. We have been demanding for a long time to reduce the import duty on metals like gold, silver and platinum. The government has listened to our demand in this budget. The government has reduced the import duty on gold and silver to 6.4 percent. This will reduce the rates of gold, silver and platinum jewellery, which will directly benefit the customers and will also give a boost to the market.
What did the Indian jewelery industry want?
Speaking to Hindustan ahead of the budget, Atul Saraf, director of Aspire Gems and Jewels, had said, “The Indian jewelery industry has been demanding a significant reduction in import duty on precious metals to promote competition and liquidity in the market. We propose to reduce the duty from 15% to 4%. This will free up blocked funds of approximately Rs 982.16 crore and give a boost to working capital.”
He had said that similarly, we are reducing the import duty on silver from 10% to 4% and on platinum from 12.5% ​​to 4%. These changes are necessary to revive the industry, improve its global position and promote micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Reducing these costs will increase our ability to compete internationally, spur growth and create more jobs in the industry.
