gold and silver
There is news of relief for those importing gold and silver. India has given permission to 15 banks to import gold and silver, and two banks only to import gold. This approval will be valid for three years starting from April 1, 2026. This approval from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) comes more than 10 days after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the list of designated banks on April 6. Due to the delay in this notification, banks had stopped the import of these precious metals.
According to reports, in the absence of this order, more than 5 metric tons of gold and about 8 metric tons of silver were stuck for customs clearance. This order is usually issued at the beginning of every financial year. The previous notification was valid till March 31, 2026. An official associated with this incident said that this is a general order. Perhaps due to the focus being on issues related to the ongoing war in West Asia, it went unnoticed.
the consignment was pending
A representative of the gems and jewelery industry said that this is a general notification, but it is needed because banks cannot import gold after the approval period ends. He further said that after the order of RBI, DGFT and Customs Department also have to issue their respective notifications. The notification issued on Friday will remain valid till March 31, 2029. Custom duty officials said that the consignment of goods was held up due to lack of approval from DGFT.
A senior official of the Mumbai-based Customs Duty Department said that we were given clear instructions that clearance would be given only after the permission of DGFT, and no relaxation would be given for consignments of goods in transit. The official further said that some confusion had arisen during Akshaya Tritiya, which is the biggest time of demand for gold and silver. Now after the DGFT order comes, the approval work will be done on priority basis.
This is the list of banks
Axis Bank, Bank of India, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China remain in the list of banks which have received approval for imports. Bank of India, Deutsche Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and Punjab National Bank—which were not included in the list of approved banks last year—have now been added to the list. Only Union Bank of India and Sberbank of Russia have been allowed to import gold. The industry representative said that earlier import approval was given for one year, but now it has been given for three years. This is a positive step.
