India restricts imports of certain platinum jewellery

Before this order, such platinum jewellery, with 90 percent gold content, could be freely imported.

India on November 17 restricted imports of certain categories of unstudded platinum jewellery until April 30, 2026, according to a notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

The DGFT added the imports of these specific platinum jewellery, will require prior approval for all such consignments since the restrictions remain in force until April next year.

Before this order, such platinum jewellery, with 90 percent gold content, could be freely imported.

However, some traders were reportedly importing these at zero duty from Indonesia under the India-ASEAN free trade agreement over the past few weeks and converting them into gold bars, thereby evading the 6 percent rate on gold imports.

This follows similar steps taken in September, when the government restricted imports of certain silver jewellery until March 31, 2026, to curb rising imports of unstudded jewellery from Thailand under the FTA with ASEAN.

In October 2025, India's gold imports saw a growth of 199.2 percent to $14.7 billion against $4.9 billion a year ago, while inbound shipments of silver rose six fold to $2.72 billion.