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GTRI Recommends Excluding Gold From Future FTAs to Protect Forex Reserves
The economic think tank GTRI has expressed concern over the significant increase in gold imports from Dubai under the India-UAE Free Trade Agreement.
The economics research center GTRI has requested the government to conduct an audit of its FTA policies. This is because Dubai gained tariff concessions on valuable metals within the framework of the India-UAE bilateral trade agreement. This has contributed to the rapid growth of gold imports.
The India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed in May 2022. As a result of the CEPA, India imposed an import duty of 1 percent below the general import duty for gold imported from the UAE through a TRQ system.
The TRQ began at 120 tons per annum and will be increased to 200 tons by 2027, covering approximately 25 percent of India's gold imports. GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said that in the 2024 budget, India reduced the general gold import duty from 15 percent to 6 percent.
