India's Gold Bar imports surged 16% during August '14: GJEPC

MUMBAI (Scrap Monster):  The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has released the details of imports of raw materials for gems and jewellery for the month of August 2014. According to data, the gold bar imports by the country during August this year witnessed a sharp rise of 16.25% over the previous year.

The monthly import statistics released by GJEPC suggests that the total gold bar imports by the country in August ‘14 amounted to Rs 2,221.36 crores (USD 364.76 Million).In rupee terms, the gold bar imports have soared higher by 16.253% over the year. The rise in dollar terms stood at 20.66%. It must be noted that the country’s gold bar imports during August last year were Rs 1,910.84 crores (USD 302.30 Million).

According to GJEPC, the cumulative gold bar imports by the country during the initial five months of the current fiscal from April ‘14 to August ‘14 declined marginally by 3.36% when compared with the corresponding five-month period during previous fiscal year. The country’s gold bar imports during April to August 2014 totaled Rs 12,514.52 crores (USD 2,087.42 Million). During the similar period last fiscal, the country had imported gold bars worth Rs 12,949.93 crores (USD 2,259.28 Million).

Also, the country’s gold jewellery imports during August ’14 totaled Rs 142.68 crores (USD 23.43 Million). The country’s gold jewellery imports during August ’13 were Rs 342.54 crores (USD 54.19 Million). Thus the GJEPC import statistics indicate that the Indian gold jewellery imports have more than halved during August this year.