Gold Demand: Finance Minister made such an announcement that people rushed to buy gold

Gold Price Today: Compared to a year ago, gold imports in the month of August have more than doubled. The reason for the record sale of gold amid inflation is believed to be the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Gold Import Duty: In the general budget presented on 23 July, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a reduction in the import duty on gold. This brought tremendous happiness among the people planning to buy gold. Its effect was seen in the form of a big drop in the price of gold in the market. Hours of waiting were seen to buy jewelry at showrooms like Tanishq. In just one to two days, the price of 10 grams of gold came down by Rs 4000. But this drop in price brought the demand for gold to a record level. Due to the increase in demand for gold, its market rate has reached the old level despite the reduction in import duty.

Gold imports at record level of $10.06 billion

Apart from the reduction in import duty, festive demand is also being considered as the reason for the increase in gold demand. Due to heavy reduction in import duty and increased festive demand, gold imports more than doubled in August to a record level of $ 10.06 billion. According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce, gold imports stood at $ 4.93 billion in the same period a year ago. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal, in his reaction to this record level of gold imports, said that a huge reduction in import duty on gold was done so that gold smuggling and other activities could be reduced.

Import duty was reduced from 15 percent to 6 percent.

Barthwal told the media, 'This is the time when jewelers start stocking their goods for sale in the festive season.' In the budget for the financial year 2024-25, the government had announced to reduce the duty from 15 percent to 6 percent. The country's gold imports declined by 4.23 percent to $ 12.64 billion in the first four months (April-July) of the current financial year. In the last financial year 2023-24, gold imports in the country increased by 30 percent to $ 45.54 billion. India imports the most gold from Switzerland, which has a share of about 40 percent.

More than 16 percent of gold was imported from the UAE,

followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with more than 16 percent share and South Africa with nearly 10 percent share. The share of this precious metal in the country's total imports is more than 5 percent. The surge in gold imports has widened the country's trade deficit (difference between imports and exports) to $29.65 billion in August. India is the second largest consumer of gold in the world after China. This import mainly meets the demand of the jewelry industry.

What was the rate of gold today?

Amid fluctuations in the rates of gold and silver, a fall was seen in the bullion market on Tuesday. On Tuesday, in the morning session, the price of gold saw a rise in the market, but by evening it closed down. On the other hand, the rate of silver has also come down. According to the data released by https://ibjarates.com/, on September 17, the rate of 24 carat gold fell by more than Rs 200 to Rs 73276. Similarly, silver fell by about Rs 800 to the level of Rs 87537. 23 carat gold fell to Rs 72983, 22 carat was seen at Rs 67121 per 10 grams.