Govt allots quota for 180 tonne of gold imports from UAE

NEW DELHI ; The Government of India allotted quota for 180 tonne of gold imports from the UAE at a concessional duty under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on Monday, with a traders’ association claiming that around 1,400 applications were rejected.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) received a record number of applications seeking 25 times more than the available quota for gold imports for 2025-26 from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Under the CEPA, gold can be imported with a 5% duty. 

According to traders, the concessional import facility usually draws a larger number of applications, but the number reached 2,960 this time — a rise of 253% year-on-year.

They claimed that the authorities took into account a condition of an average annual turnover of above `25 crore over the previous three financial years  while allotting the import quota to traders. “DGFT ignored its public notice issued in June 2023, which had dropped the condition of turnover above Rs 25 crore in the past three years,” Surendra Mehta, national secretary, Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association, said. Consequently, 1,400 applications were turned down, he added.

Mehta said that only one application from each applicant was considered, and priority was given to those who used 80% of the CEPA quota in FY25. 

Scheduled commercial banks are allowed to directly import gold as nominated agencies, and hence a separate quota allocation for them was not considered. Since its introduction in 2022, the concessional import programme has gained popularity. Market sources, however, claim that a large number of applications this time were submitted by people who had not previously dealt in gold.