The import duty on gold should either be withdrawn or drastically reduced to keep prices in check, PMK founder S. Ramadoss has said.
In a statement, he pointed out that in 2012-13, then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram introduced a 2% import duty on gold, which was gradually increased to 10%.
“At the time, we were given an assurance that the import duty would be withdrawn when the current account deficit falls. However, the Congress-led government did not keep its promise. Narendra Modi had also pledged to scrap the import duty if the BJP-led NDA came to power. However, that promise has not been kept, and the import duty has been increased to 12.5%,” Dr. Ramadoss said.
Further, the GST and wastage charges levied by jewellers were increasing the cost to customers. For instance, customers were spending ₹8,455 extra to buy 8 grams of gold as a result of the import duty, taxes and wastage charges, which will hit the poor, he said.
Reducing the import duty will help curb gold smuggling, increase government revenue and bring down the cost of purchase to the end customer by at least ₹5,000, he added.
Dr. Ramadoss alleged that jewellers were exploiting customers on the pretext of levying wastage charges, which should be stopped.
