India’s consumption of gold rose to 310 tonnes in the second quarter ended June, highest in the last 10 years, despite government curbs to restrict imports to rein in burgeoning current account deficit, a WGC report said today.

Much of the demand was met by stocks that had been built up to healthy levels following the April price drop. Imports more than doubled to 338 tonnes in April-June of this calendar year, it said. Gold consumption stood at 181.1 tonnes in the same quarter last year.

“Consumers in India showed continued strong appetite for gold, with recent government measures to curb demand having had little impact on the quarter’s figures. Consumer demand was 310 tonnes, up 71 per cent on last year,” the World Gold Council (WGC) said in its latest report.

According to WGC India Managing Director, Somasundaram P.R., “Gold demand in Q2 was best in the last 10 years.”

The fall in the gold price last April resulted in an increase in jewellery demand by more than 50 per cent to 188 tonnes in Q2 this year from 124 tonnes in the year-ago period, while bar and coin consumption reached a record high at 122 tonnes from 56.5 tonnes in the review period, he said.

The introduction of restrictions on payment terms for gold imports in May and an increased import duty in early June to 8 per cent created uncertainty in the market but had a “limited impact on end-user demand,” he added.

India, the world’s biggest buyer of gold, has been trying to curb imports of the yellow metal, which is the second biggest imported item after crude oil. On August 13, the government raised import duty on gold for a third time in eight months to 10 per cent from 8 per cent.

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