After a long series of import tax hikes, ever since 1991 when gold import was started in India and tightened the gold trade, gold smuggling has escalated in the country, said K N Raghavan, commissioner of customs.
He was speaking on the topic ‘Gold smuggling and its Economic Impact’ at the meeting organised by Kerala Management Association (KMA).
The smuggled gold, usually given at hawala rates which minus customs duty, gives the smuggler a profit of Rs 2.7 lakh per kg of gold.
This smuggled gold has made a negative impact with the growth of a parallel economy and loss in revenues through drop in remittance. Until June 2013, the country has seen a Current Account Deficit of 21.8 billion USD, he added.
S Rajmohan Nair, president, KMA, delivered the presidential address. Prasad K Panicker, chairman, programme committee, KMA introduced the chief guest and Jibu Paul, secretary, proposed the vote of thanks.