India’s gold imports fell 81.3 per cent in September 2026 to $1.8 billion from $9.61 billion a year earlier, according to Forbes India and other reports of the commerce ministry’s trade data. Silver imports fell 49.1 per cent, according to the same reports, to about $665 million. The decline in gold is attributed to a hike in customs duty on the precious metal in May.
The fall in dollars is large. Gold imports were $7.81 billion lower than a year earlier, which is IndiaX24’s calculation from $9.61 billion and $1.8 billion. Together, gold and silver imports were about $2.47 billion in September, a sum that IndiaX24 has worked out from the two reported values.
The Tribune reports that gold imports fell 27 per cent in the April to September period after the hike in import duty. The monthly fall of 81.3 per cent is therefore much sharper than the six-month fall, which suggests that the effect of the duty has grown since it was introduced, or that gold buying was front-loaded earlier in the year. The reports reviewed do not give the monthly pattern or the size of the duty change, so IndiaX24 does not state the reason for the difference.
The other side of the import bill moved the opposite way. Imports of crude oil rose 30.76 per cent to $18.34 billion in September, according to the reports, and Brent crude has been hovering above $100 a barrel in recent weeks. A rise of 30.76 per cent to $18.34 billion implies that crude imports a year earlier were about $14.03 billion, so the increase is about $4.3 billion, a calculation by IndiaX24.
Set side by side, the lower gold bill of $7.8 billion more than offset the higher crude bill of $4.3 billion. Total imports still rose 8 per cent to $74.61 billion, according to the reports, so other categories grew. Electronics imports, for example, rose 51.5 per cent. IndiaX24 reports on the wider trade figures in a separate article.
The oil price is the main risk in the data. Brent has stayed above $100 a barrel in recent weeks, and the Reserve Bank of India raised the repo rate on 7 October as inflation has risen, as IndiaX24 has reported. A larger crude bill adds to pressure on the trade deficit and the rupee, although the reports reviewed do not give the rupee’s level against the dollar.
Gold has also been volatile in price this week. It traded near $4,096 an ounce on 14 October, according to Fortune, and Comex gold was at $4,175.7 an ounce in early trade on 16 October, according to a market report. The two quotes are from different markets and times and are not directly comparable.
Jewellers and the government watch gold imports closely because India is one of the world’s largest consumers of the metal, which is general background and not part of the reports. The reports reviewed do not say how the duty affected demand for jewellery, smuggling or the share of recycled gold.
IndiaX24 will report the October data on gold and crude imports when the commerce ministry releases them.
Image: Gold bullion bars (file photo; a stand-in image). Photo by Stevebidmead, licensed under CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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