The Government on Tuesday increased the import duty on gold and silver jewellery to 15 per cent from 10 per cent to protect the domestic industry, although it would make ornaments more expensive for consumers.
“To protect the interests of small artisans, the customs duty on articles of jewellery and of goldsmiths’ or silversmiths’ wares and parts thereof is being increased from 10 per cent to 15 per cent,” an official statement said. It said an import duty differential between jewellery and the primary metal is needed to protect millions of artisans who depend on the labour-intensive industry after the duty on gold was increased in stages to 10 per cent on August 13.
In the absence of any duty differential, it said, “there is an apprehension that Indian jewellery makers would not be able to compete with cheaper imports. Pti