India Tightens Rules for Importing Gold, Silver, Platinum: Huge Impact for Jewellers and Investors

India has implemented stricter rules for importing gold, silver, and platinum as part of measures to curb misuse and improve traceability. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) released the new regulations on May 19, in line with the Finance Act 2025.

What's Changed?

The new import policy limits who can import such precious metals and under what terms. It also revises and aligns the Harmonized System (HS) codes to prevent manipulation and improve proper classification.

Stricter Gold Import Controls

Gold in unwrought and semi-manufactured state of purity 99.5% and above has been shifted to the "Restricted" category under the HS codes 71081210 and 71081310.

Key points:

Previously freely imported, such gold types are now under government authorisation.
They can be imported only through the nominated agencies of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or DGFT.
Approved jewellers under the licence of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) can import gold only under the India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX).
Under the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), entities with tariff rate quotas (TRQs) can import gold via IIBX, with mandatory delivery through IFSCA-registered vaults in SEZs.

Gold dore—a half-pure gold mixed with silver used for refining—may still be imported by authorized refineries under actual user conditions.

To even stronger control, older HS codes such as 71081200 and 71081300 have been scraped.

⚪ Silver Bars Also Restricted

Silver imports are not an exception either. Silver bars of 99.9% purity and higher are now "Restricted" under HS code 71069120.

Importers permitted are:

RBI-notified banks
DGFT-nominated agencies
IFSCA-approved jewellers through IIBX

But half-manufactured silver products under HS codes 71069221 and 71069229 remain in the "Free" category, though still regulated by RBI.

Very high purity platinum (99% and above) under HS codes 711011111 and 71101121 continue to be freely importable.
Platinum in all other forms has been classed as "Restricted", requiring advance authorisation.
Redundant duplicate HS codes like 71101110 and 71101910 have been removed for better traceability.

What This Means for Jewellers and Investors

The new policy significantly curtails the import channels for bullion. Jewellers cannot import high-purity gold and silver bars directly unless they:

Are registered with IFSCA
Import via the India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX)

Only authorised banks and government-nominated agencies can participate in the import under the new policy.

Summary

India's attempt to tighten bullion import rules is set to:

Boost compliance and monitoring
Reduce chances of tax evasion and grey market activities
Limit direct access for small-scale jewellers and traders

For investors, these changes may lead to short-term market adjustments and possible price volatility, especially if supply tightens under the new system.