Mumbai, Jan 10: The government has revised gold import data, bringing down numbers for November by USD 5 billion to USD 9.84 billion, possibly to rectify double accounting of inbound shipments.According to revised data of the commerce ministry arm Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), gold import numbers have been slashed since April 2024, revealing excess imports of about USD 11.7 billion during the first eight months of 2024-25.
The revision was prompted by an unusual surge in imports of the precious metal in November 2024, leading to record import of USD 69.95 billion and the highest ever trade deficit of USD 37.84 billion.
Noticing the jump, the commerce ministry started examining if there were any calculation or accounting mistakes in the compilation of the gold imports data.
Kolkata-based DGCIS is an organisation for the collection, compilation and dissemination of India’s trade statistics and commercial information.
The revised data published on the DGCIS website showed a difference of about USD 11.7 billion for April-November 2024-25.
The cumulative gold import during April-November 2024-25 worked out to be USD 37.38 billion as against the earlier estimates of USD 49.08 billion.
According to the revised DGCIS data, the inbound shipments in April, May, June, July, August, September and October 2024 were USD 2.95 billion (as against earlier estimate of USD 3.11 billion), USD 2.91 billion (USD 3.33 billion), USD 2.47 billion (USD 3.06 billion), USD 2.57 billion (USD 3.13 billion), USD 8.64 billion (USD 10.06 billion), USD 3.3 billion (USD 4.39 billion), and USD 4.67 billion (USD 7.12 billion), respectively.
After the revision, the trade deficit — difference between imports and exports — for November is expected to be revised downwards to USD 32.84 billion. Similarly, there will be a revision in imports as well as trade deficit numbers for the last eight months of the current fiscal year.
During April-November 2023-24, gold imports stood at USD 32.92 billion.
A query sent to the commerce ministry on the issue remained unanswered.
Prices of the yellow metal have increased 17 per cent so far this fiscal year to Rs 80,000 per 10 gm in the national capital.
In the Budget, the government slashed the duty from 15 per cent to 6 per cent.
India’s gold imports, which have a bearing on the country’s current account deficit (CAD), surged 30 per cent to USD 45.54 billion in 2023-24.