India has placed fresh restrictions on imports of select categories of unstudded platinum jewellery, effective from 17 November and continuing until 30 April 2026. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) announced that these specific items will now require prior approval for every consignment while the curbs remain in place.
Previously, platinum jewellery containing 90 percent gold could enter the market without limitations. However, recent weeks saw traders reportedly taking advantage of zero-duty imports from Indonesia under the India-ASEAN free trade agreement, converting the jewellery into gold bars and bypassing the 6 percent duty levied on gold.
The decision mirrors measures taken in September, when the government imposed similar checks on imports of certain silver jewellery until March 2026 to address a spike in unstudded pieces arriving from Thailand under ASEAN concessions. The surge in precious metal inflows has been notable: India’s gold imports in October 2025 jumped by 199.2 percent to $14.7 billion from $4.9 billion a year earlier, while silver shipments increased sixfold to $2.72 billion.