The Indian government has imposed restrictions on the import of specified gold jewellery and articles in a notification issued on Tuesday bringing them to the ‘restricted’ category from ‘free’ with immediate effect. 

This means that import of the indicated items, which includes gold jewellery studded with pearls, diamonds and precious & semi-precious stones, will now require an import authorisation (government permit).

The restrictions will, however, not apply to imports under the India-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), per the notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Tuesday.

“The import policy of ITC (HS) code 71131912, 71131913, 71131914, 71131915, 71131960 has been amended from “free” to “restricted” with immediate effect. However import under ITC (HS) codes 71131912, 71131913, 71131914 and 71131915 shall be permitted without restricted import authorisation under a valid India-UAE CEPA TRQs,” the notification noted. 

Last July, the DGFT had imposed import restrictions on unstudded jewellery made of gold, and other articles made of gold. Imports under the India-UAE CEPA were exempted.

“The import restrictions on gold jewellery and articles is to accord more protection to domestic jewellers and also to encourage jewellery exports,” an industry source said.

India’s gold imports increased by 30 per cent to $ 45.54 billion during 2023-24, according to government figures.