“After a two-decade lull, gold smugglers seem to be back in business in India, thanks to recent hikes in import duty on gold — from about one per cent to eight per cent in 18 months. In the April-June quarter of this financial year, seizure of smuggled gold hit Rs 59.82 crore — an increase of 365 per cent over Rs 12.86 crore in the same period a year ago. In volume terms, the increase would be even higher, because the average gold price in the quarter came down 6.6 per cent from that in the same quarter last year. According to rough estimates, only 5-10 per cent of smuggled gold is caught by authorities, while the rest manages to get into the country unnoticed.”
