Government has no proposal to reduce gold import duty

Mumbai: India, the world's second-biggest gold consumer, does not have any current proposal to cut the record 10 per cent import duty on gold, Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.

India, desperate to trim a gaping current account deficit, took a slew of measures last year to curb demand for bullion, its second-biggest import after oil.

Besides the duty imposed by the finance ministry, the Reserve Bank of India also imposed the so-called 80-20 rule that requires a fifth of all bullion imports to be re-exported.