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A big and shocking news has come out for the people who are fond of buying gold and silver. An official reply given in the Lok Sabha has revealed that the government has enriched the country's treasury with precious metals in just a few weeks. According to the information given by the government, a huge revenue of Rs 10,463 crore has been collected from the custom duty imposed on the import of gold, silver and platinum in the country between May 13 and August 2.

The largest part of this bumper earning has come from gold imports alone. Some time ago, the government had made a major change in the import duty on these precious metals, after which there has been a rain of money in the government coffers. However, the government claims that the motive behind this strict decision was not just to earn money, but to save the country's foreign currency and keep it safe for the import of essential goods.

Know how much money was earned from which metal?

Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State in the Finance Ministry, while presenting a written reply in the Lok Sabha, told how much contribution was made by which metal in this short interval between May 13 and August 2.

During this period, the government got bumper custom duty of Rs 10,040 crore just from the import of gold. At the same time, revenue of Rs 328 crore was received from import of silver and Rs 95 crore was received from import of platinum. If these three precious metals are combined, the government has crossed the figure of Rs 10,463 crore in less than two and a half months. Apart from this, changes in the same ratio were also made on other bullion products like Gold Door, Silver Door, Coins and Jewelery Findings.

Why did the government increase the import duty?

Taking a big step, the government had directly increased the import duty on gold and silver from 6 percent to 15 percent from May 13, 2026. At the same time, the import duty on platinum was also increased from 6.4 percent to 15.4 percent.

After this huge increase, the duty on gold and silver coming from abroad started getting much higher than before. The main reason behind this step of the government was to save the country's foreign currency (Forex Reserves). Let us tell you that after China, India is the second largest consumer of gold in the world. The demand for gold in the country mainly comes from the jewelery sector, and a large part of our requirement is met through imports. That is, the more gold is imported from abroad, the more foreign exchange the country will spend.

For which important things is foreign exchange being saved?

The main objective of the government was that in this era of global uncertainties, foreign exchange should be used on imports most important for the country's economy instead of non-essential items. Crude oil is at the top among these, because India buys a large part of its total oil needs from abroad.

If the country is left with limited foreign exchange, the government wants to spend it on importing very important things like oil, fertilizers, industrial raw materials and capital goods. Since gold is mainly used for jewelery and investment, it comes after oil and other essential commodities in the government's priority list.

Big action on tension and smuggling in West Asia

The ongoing geopolitical tensions at the international level have also been a major reason behind this policy change. Due to war and tension in West Asia, there is continuous pressure on crude oil prices. Along with this, fears of closure of the 'Strait of Hormuz', one of the world's most important oil routes, had also increased the concern. If the supply of oil through this route is disrupted, the prices of crude oil in the global market may skyrocket, which means that a country like India will have to spend more dollars.

Amidst all this strictness, the government also launched a big campaign against smuggling. During this period, about 161 kg of smuggled gold was seized in the country and a total of 116 people were arrested, which proves that the administration has completely tightened its grip on illegal activities.