"To enhance domestic value addition in gold and precious metal jewellery in the country, I propose to reduce customs duties on gold and silver to 6 per cent and that on platinum to 6.4 per cent," said the Finance Minister in the Budget 2024 speech. (22 July, 2024)
This is quite a turnaround for the Indian government, which being thoroughly Keynesian took a longstanding view that importation of precious metals made a negative contribution to the trade balance and was to be discouraged. Clearly, they didn’t see gold as money, but a means by which individuals evade exchange controls. It competed with the rupee as a store of value and was simply a hangover from the past.
Why the change?
