Gold Imports by India Said to Rise More Than Four-Fold in April

  • World Gold Council estimates demand to recover this year
  • Sales during Akshaya Tritiya saw a jump at end of April
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Gold imports by India gained more than four-fold in April driven by jewelers restocking in anticipation of a recovery in sales during the wedding season that will last till mid-June.

Shipments rose to 98.3 metric tons last month from 22.2 tons a year earlier, according to a person familiar with provisional data from the finance ministry, who asked not to be identified as the data aren’t public. Imports were affected a year earlier because of a strike by jewelers to protest an excise tax on jewelery made and sold locally. Finance Ministry spokesman D. S. Malik declined to comment on the data.