New Delhi: Gold imports surged five-fold to USD 3.75 billion in September on account of the ongoing festive season.
Gold imports stood at USD 682.5 million in the same month last year.
The high imports have pushed up the country's trade deficit to about 18-month high of USD 14.2 billion in the month under review.
Gold imports were down for quite a long time after the government had imposed restrictions on inbound shipments of the precious metal to narrow the Current Account Deficit.
According to industry experts, the gold imports in September because of the ongoing festive season.
India's CAD, which is the excess of foreign exchange outflows over inflows, touched a historic high of 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13, mainly due to rising imports of petroleum products and gold.
However, it narrowed sharply to 1.7 per cent of GDP in the April-June quarter of this fiscal due to decline in gold imports.
The government had increased customs duty on gold to 10 per cent and banned import of gold coins and medallions, while the RBI linked imports of the metal to exports.
India is the largest importer of gold, which is mainly utilised to meet the demand of the jewellery industry.
The Commerce and Industry Ministry is pitching for easing of the gold import restrictions to boost gems and jewellery exports.
In August, the imports increased to USD 2.03 billion from 738.7 million in August 2013.
In July, gold imports declined by 26.39 per cent to USD 1.81 billion. Last time in June, the imports were up after declining for continuous seven months.
