Gems & jewellery sector seeks cut in gold import duty

Mumbai: On the onset of the Union Budget for 2019-20, the gems and jewellery sector has unanimously sought reduction of gold import duty to 4 per cent to check smuggling in a big way.

In a representation, the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) said the 10 per cent import duty on gold was levied to curb current account deficit (CAD), which has narrowed to 2.5 per cent of GDP in 2019.

"We want the government to reduce the import duty to 4 per cent which will help in completely eradicating the gray market," GJC Chairman Anantha Padmanabhan told.

The industry is also seeking to waive off the bank commission or reduce it to 0.20 per cent, to boost digital transactions in the industry.

Banks charge 11.5 per cent commission on credit card, which makes jewellery costlier to the customer by the same per cent, hence encouraging cash transactions, GJC said in the recommendations.

The jewellers further sought relief from capital gain tax to help the industry to move towards organised and compliant business practices.