New Delhi, May 19 -- The recent hike in import duties and tighter curbs on gold and silver imports have created pressure on jewellery stocks in the near term. The government increased import duties on the two precious metals - gold and silver - from 6% to 15% and also tightened import regulations to ease pressure on the country's forex reserves and narrow the trade deficit.

The government also shifted gold and silver imports from the "free" category to the "restricted" category in May 2026, limited gold imports under the advance authorisation scheme to 100 kg per licence, and required exporters to fulfil 50% of their export obligation before obtaining fresh approvals.

According to Seema Srivastava, Senior Research Analyst at SMC Global ...