Gold consumption in country declined by 26 per cent to 190.3 tonne during the January-March quarter due to higher import duties and supply curbs imposed by the government, the World Gold Council on Tuesday said.
In the first quarter (Q1) of 2013, the gold demand in the country had logged in 257.5 tonne, according to WGC Gold Demand Trends report. In value terms, gold demand witnessed a fall of 33 per cent to Rs48,853 crore during the first quarter of 2014, compared to Rs73,183.6 crore in Q1, 2013."During Q1, 2014 the demand went down by 26 per cent illustrating the continued impact of higher import duties and supply curbs imposed by the Centre to reduce the Current Account Deficit due to which gold prices were higher in the spot markets," said WGC Managing Director, India, Somasundaram PR.