According to data from the commerce ministry, the country's gold imports, which affect the Current Account Deficit (CAD), rose by 192.13 percent to USD 4.47 billion in March after experiencing negative growth. This increase was caused by a notable increase in the price of the yellow metal. In January 2024, the total value of gold imports was USD 1.53 billion.
Inbound shipments rose from USD 45.54 billion in April to USD 58 billion in March 2024–2025, a 27.27 percent increase.
Imports have also increased, indicating that investors believe gold is a safe asset. Other reasons include asset diversification towards gold in response to global uncertainty, increased demand from banks, and price increases.
Imports of silver dropped 85.4% to USD 119.3 million in March. It dropped 11.24 percent year over year to USD 4.82 billion in 2024–2025.
About 40% of all gold imports come from Switzerland, with the United Arab Emirates (more than 16%) and South Africa (about 10%) coming in second and third, respectively.
Eight percent of all imports into the nation are of the precious metal.
Volume-wise, imports decreased from 795.32 tones in 2023–2024 to 757.15 tones in 2024–2025.
While gold imports rose 40.8% in January and 55.39% in December 2024, they decreased roughly 62% in February.
The surge in gold imports increased the country's trade deficit (the difference between imports and exports) to USD 21.54 in March. It reached a record high of USD 282.82 billion in the previous fiscal year.
After China, India is the world's second-largest consumer of gold. The jewelry industry's demands are mostly satisfied by imports.
Gem and jewelry exports reached about USD 3 billion during the month, up 10.62% year over year. But from USD 32.7 billion in 2023–2024 to USD 29.82 billion in 2024–2025, it dropped by 8.84 percent.
Due to a greater trade deficit, India's CAD grew from USD 10.4 billion (1.1%) in the previous year to USD 11.5 billion (1.1%) in the December quarter. The amount climbed from USD 30.6 billion (1.1 percent of GDP) to USD 37.0 billion (1.3 percent of GDP) between April and December 2024.
