India's Gold Bar imports tumbled 62% in Feb '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 February 2014. According to the data, the gold bar imports by the country in February this year witnessed a huge drop of 61.69% over the previous year.

The monthly import statistics released by GJEPC suggests that the total gold bar imports by the country in February amounted to INR 1,752.63 crores (USD 281.55 million).In rupee terms, the gold bar imports have declined sharply by 55.65%. The decline in dollar terms stood at 61.69%. It must be noted that the country’s gold bar imports during February last year were INR 3,952.08 crores (USD 735.00 million).

According to GJEPC, the cumulative gold bar imports by the country during the initial eleven-month period of the fiscal has declined by 53.62% this year. The country’s gold bar imports during the period from April to February this fiscal year totaled INR 27,854.96 crores (USD 4,649.22 million).During the similar eleven-month period last fiscal year, the country had imported gold bars worth INR 54,464.41 crores (USD 10,023.17 million).

It must be noted that the above figures are based on prevailing exchange rates. The exchange rate of I USD in February 2014 is considered as Rs. 62.25 against USD and that during February 2013 is taken as 53.77.