Within days of levying high customs duties on precious metals, the government on Saturday imposed import curbs on silver by putting the metal under licensed regime for inbound shipments.
The government, on May 13, hiked import duty on precious metals - gold, and silver - from 6 per cent to 15 per cent. The effective duty (including 3 per cent IGST) is over 18 per cent.
It was hiked to control the outflow of forex by curbing non-essential imports.
The import policy for silver, including silver played with gold and platinum, "are revised from free to restricted...with immediate effect," the directorate general of foreign trade said in a notification.
Goods under the restricted category need a government license for imports.
The import curbs, however, will not be applicable for imports by 100 per cent Export Oriented Units (EOUs), Special Economic Zone (SEZ) units provided such imported goods are not sold in the domestic market.
According to the commerce ministry data, silver imports jumped more than two-fold to USD 411 million during April. In 2025-26, the imports jumped about 150 per cent to USD 12 billion due to higher prices. In volume terms, it rose by 42 per cent to 7,334.96 tonnes in the last fiscal.
Silver was priced at around Rs 2.53 lakh per kg. The metal is an essential component in several industries, ranging from electrical switches and solar panels to chemical catalysts and medical equipment.
India's foreign exchange reserves have declined to USD 690 billion in the week ended May 1 from an all-time high of USD 728.49 billion during the week ended February 27, before the outbreak of the West Asia war, which has put pressure on the rupee through costlier imports.
According to the RBI data for the week ended May 1, India's foreign currency assets (FCAs), which form the largest component in forex reserves, fell to USD 551.8 billion, while gold reserves fell to USD 115 billion.
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