TMC MP Saket Gokhale's Tweet On Silver Import Through GIFT City Raises Eyebrows

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale said that under an agreement between the UAE and India, silver can be imported at a reduced duty of 8 per cent provided it meets something called "rules of origin" requirements.

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New Delhi: Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale took to microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) to say that serious concerns have been raised about "a very strange trend" emerging for the last eight months. Divulging details of the matter, in a post titled 'Is there a HUGE silver scam being carried out through the GIFT city in Gujarat?', he wrote that all of India's silver imports from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are being brought in through a single place, GIFT City in Gandhinagar,

Gujarat, since December 2023. Stating that India levies a 15 per cent import duty on silver and only institutions nominated by the RBI and the DGFT are allowed to import silver, he wrote: "For some strange reason, these rules DO NOT APPLY to Gujarat's Gift City where any private player can import silver."

Gokhale said that under an agreement between the UAE and India, silver can be imported at a reduced duty of 8 per cent provided it meets something called "rules of origin" requirements.

In this post, the MP has raised a number of concerns, including-   

Banks and other institutions that have imported silver through other ports in India from UAE have been REFUSED permission to import it at 8%. This has been done by the Customs Dept citing "failure to meet rules of origin requirement" 

- However, ALL silver imports coming through GIFT City in Gujarat from UAE have been allowed at 8% duty without any issues

- As a result, silver is now being imported to India from UAE ONLY through Gujarat for 8 months

1. How is ONLY GIFT City in Gujarat allowing private players who are NOT nominated by RBI & DGFT to import silver? 

2. Why are silver imports coming from UAE through ports in the rest of India not being allowed an 8% concessional duty? Why is that concession only for imports through Gujarat?

3. On what basis has GIFT City in Gujarat been allowed a monopoly on silver import from UAE for 8 months?

A trade research firm called GTRI has demanded a probe into this mystery and has also said that this "special treatment" given to Gujarat's GIFT City will have a negative impact not only on silver trade but also on other precious metals. 

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