Govt raises import tariff value of gold

The government on Wednesday raised the import tariff value of gold at $430 per ten grams and that of silver to $639 per kg as prices of the precious metals have risen in the global market.

Tariff value -- the base price on which the customs duty is determined to prevent under-invoicing -- of gold and silver stood at $416 per 10 gram and $638 per kg, respectively earlier.

The notification, issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs, has come on a day when gold prices regained the Rs 29,000 level after nearly four months by surging Rs 755 to Rs 29,200 per 10 grams in the national capital.

Gold in Singapore, which normally sets the price trend on the domestic front, rose by one per cent to $1,339.74 an ounce and silver by 1.4 per cent to $20.01 an ounce.

India, the largest gold consumer in the world, imported 860 tonnes of gold in 2012. In the first three months of 2013 calendar year, import stood at 215 tonnes. Gold import stood at about 335 tonnes in the April-June quarter.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister P Chidambram today said: "We hope to contain gold imports at a level of well below last year's total imports of 845 tonnes and save a considerable amount of foreign exchange which will have a positive impact on CAD."

"Imports were low in June but in July it has turned again...in July the imports have risen, therefore those measures (to contain imports) continue," Chidambaram had said earlier.

The government has decreased the tariff value of crude palm oil to $820 per tonne from $834 per tonne earlier. The base price of refined palm oil has been kept unchanged.

Tariff values of crude palmolein, RBD palmolein were reduced to $868 a tonne and $871 per tonne, respectively. Similarly the tariff value of crude soyabean oil has also been reduced to $952 per tonne from $975 per tonne earlier.