Gold
metal also coming in via Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar
Smuggling
of gold has jumped manifold during fiscal 2013 - 14 due to the Central
Government’s firm decision not to relax import curbs on the precious metal.
Data from
the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence show that cases of gold smuggling,
value of gold seized & number of arrests has increased 265%, 442% and 750%,
respectively, during 2013-14 compared to 2012-13.
Gold is
being smuggled in not only via traditional sources like West Asia but also from
newer locations like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal & Myanmar.
Smuggling
methods also saw lot of ‘innovations’ in the last fiscal. One such notable
method was converting solid gold into powder, mixed with ‘mehandi.’
In Pune,
gold was found in date fruit. The seed was removed gold was placed in its
stead.
In
another case, a belt buckle made of gold was given a metallic finish.
There are
apprehensions that gold smuggling will continue till the 10% import duty
restriction and the 80:20 scheme are eased. These curbs were imposed to control
the Current Account Deficit (difference in payment & receipt in foreign
currency). Gold contributes to more than half this deficit.
The
deficit is expected to be between $ 3,300 crore - 3,500 crore as against $
8,800 crore in 2012-13.
Gold
imports through the legal channel are estimated to be about $ 2,500 crore in
the current fiscal from $ 5,380 crore in 2012-13.
Earlier
this month, RBI Governor Mr. Raghuram
Rajan did not rule out the possibility of taking smaller steps to remove some
of these curbs.
“The
precise timing of these actions will have to be discussed with the government.
It would be useful for some of the big uncertainties facing us to be behind us
rather than still in front of us before major actions are taken in this
regard,” Mr. Rajan had said.
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