India's gold imports dropped by 5.7 per cent to 215 tonnes in the January-March period of 2013, even as its demand rose by 27 per cent to 256.5 tonnes, World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.
The demand for the precious metalwill continue to be robust in the coming monthsthough the government has imposed some curbs on imports, the WGC said, while cautioning any further supply controls will activate unauthorised channels, WGC said in its report.
Gold import and demand in India, the world's largest consumer, stood at 228 tonnes and 202.1 tonnes, respectively, in the year-ago period, it said.
"Gold imports were 215 tonnes in the first quarter of 2013 as compared to 228 tonnes in the same period last year. Imports remained lower as stockists had purhcased heavily in the previous quarter in anticipation of rise in import duty," WGC India Managing Director Somasundaram PR told reporters here at the release of the report.
Of the total demand of 256.5 tonnes, the WGC said the country's jewellery demand rose by 15 per cent to 159.5 tonnes from 138.3 tonnes, while investment demand increased by 52 per cent to 97 tonnes from 63.8 tonnes in the review period.
"Gold demand in India for both jewellery and investment continues to remain strong. The price fluctuations in gold recently have only served to reinforce Indian consumers' appetite for purchasing physical gold," Somasundaram said.
Good rabi crop and lower gold prices during February led to higher jewellery demand, the WGC said, adding that "the negative impact of rise in gold import duty in late January was for the most part eliminated by these positive factors".