India’s Gold Tax Just Jumped to 15% - Will Demand Crater?

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:03]A grandmother Mumbai walks into a jewelry shop and buys gold bangles for her granddaughter's wedding.

[00:00:09]She hands over rupees, goes home happy.

[00:00:12]She has no idea she just participated in a currency war and no idea their government's attempt to control its currency is about to make a very old, very patient criminal network a lot of money.

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[00:01:09]India, the world's second largest market for gold, [music] just made a big change.

[00:01:15]They increased their import tax on gold and silver from 6% to 15% more than doubling what had already become a large fee.

[00:01:25]But the goal is not to raise tax [music] revenue.

[00:01:28]Government officials are concerned about India's trade balance and the effect gold has on the rupee's strength.

[00:01:34]In fiscal year 2026, gold imports were worth $782 billion and [music] the trade deficit was 120 billion.

[00:01:45]The math makes sense.

[00:01:47]Reduce demand for gold, bring the deficit down, and strengthen the rupee.

[00:01:52]Analysts are predicting [music] a 10% knock on demand for gold in India.

[00:01:57]If only it were that simple.

[00:02:01]The [music] analysts will be wrong, and the government will be wrong, and both in predictable directions. But to understand why, you first need to understand how importing gold [music] can change the value of a currency.

[00:02:15]There's no direct, mechanical, or mystical connection between gold and currency. It's all about imports and forex.

[00:02:22]India produces almost no gold domestically, despite the existence of an estimated 500 million tons below ground.

[00:02:30]Due to the location and cost of extracting low-grade ore, only about 1% of Indian gold demand is satisfied from domestic mines.

[00:02:40]Now, whenever you buy something domestically, you're exchanging your currency for a good or service, and the value of the currency does not change.

[00:02:46]But when you import something, there's another dynamic at play, and that is [music] the forex market.

[00:02:52]Foreign exchange, or forex for short, involves selling one currency to buy another. If you're importing gold from India, you're selling your rupees to buy dollars, which is then exchanged for gold. When you sell one currency to buy another, it weakens the currency that was sold and strengthens the currency that was bought.

[00:03:09]>> [music] >> More rupees in the market, value goes down. Less dollars in the market, value goes up.

[00:03:15]This is how the dollar works in practice, acting as the world's reserve currency.

[00:03:20]The flow of dollars and rupees goes through two official channels primarily.

[00:03:25]The forex market is one, the other is the Reserve Bank of India, which acts as a buffer.

[00:03:30]The RBI will sell dollars from its foreign exchange reserves to keep the rupee stable when things get a little too hot.

[00:03:39]Immediately after the war with Iran began, the RBI sold off about 40 billion in dollar reserves.

[00:03:45]>> [music] >> Excessive gold demand is a problem for India because it's a massive line item and produces nothing.

[00:03:55]An import like agricultural equipment might be viewed differently. If the import can increase your exports in the future, there is a balancing act. Gold does not have that quality.

[00:04:08]Under the surface, however, this new tariff policy has some complicated ramifications.

[00:04:13]India has tried this before and most recently, Turkey.

[00:04:19]Neither country emerged unscathed.

[00:04:22]In 2013, India raised gold import duties to 10% for the same reason as today.

[00:04:28]Smuggling >> [music] >> became much more profitable.

[00:04:32]The gold still came into the country through Dubai, Nepal, and Myanmar, just invisibly.

[00:04:39]The government doesn't collect dues on smuggled goods, obviously. The smugglers, however, receive a nice markup.

[00:04:46]If the government charges 10%, [music] the smugglers might charge 8%.

[00:04:51]The RBI and the Indian [music] government eventually walked this policy back.

[00:04:56]On the surface, the current accounts looked like they improved, but it was essentially an illusion on paper.

[00:05:02]Criminal networks flourished as an unintended byproduct.

[00:05:07]And if you think that was a one-off, we need only look to Turkey in 2023.

[00:05:12]When the current accounts began looking a little shaky, they targeted gold by restricting imports.

[00:05:17]Immediately, [music] the price of gold in Turkey surged to approximately $5,000 per kilogram above market rates. And because there were restrictions on any gold coming in beyond the monthly quota, that entire premium went to smugglers.

[00:05:36]Industry analysis estimates that 44 tons of gold were smuggled in, giving smugglers over $200 million in profit, completely untaxed by the government.

[00:05:48]The policy backfired tremendously.

[00:05:50]Current accounts barely budged, but the collateral damage was what made the headlines.

[00:05:56]Smuggling gold was so profitable it corrupted the political system. Three high-profile MPs resigned over their involvement, destabilizing the ruling party.

[00:06:06]A $2.3 billion fraud scheme was uncovered that showed shell companies and fake export documents were used to exploit quota loopholes.

[00:06:15]The jewelry industry, dependent on imports, did not escape the consequences, either.

[00:06:20]Layoffs happened, workshops closed, and manufacturers relocated out of the country.

[00:06:27]To make gold smuggling work, large amounts of money need to move quietly and through unofficial channels.

[00:06:35]Hawala is a centuries-old system that enables dark money transfers and is nearly impossible to dismantle.

[00:06:42]It's built on relationships and trust and keeps the exchange of currency across borders invisible to governments.

[00:06:50]And here's how it works.

[00:06:51]Let's say an Indian worker in Dubai wants to send money home to his family in Mumbai.

[00:06:56]He goes to a hawaladar, a broker in the hawala system, and hands him the money.

[00:07:01]The hawaladar contacts another broker in Mumbai and trades a secret code.

[00:07:07]That hawaladar confirms the code, then gives the money to the final recipient.

[00:07:12]What crossed borders wasn't actually currency. [music] It was debt.

[00:07:17]The hawaladars periodically settle these debts, historically through gold shipments, something that governments have very little ability to track and trace.

[00:07:28]Transactions through the hawala system are impossible to estimate.

[00:07:33]But that hasn't stopped some from trying. Could be as little as 200 billion travels through this system or as much as a trillion.

[00:07:40]The wide variability in the estimates shows just how little transparency there is.

[00:07:48]Hawala is best thought of as a parallel banking system, highly durable, nearly invisible, operating in a legal gray zone in most countries with a greater presence in North [music] Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.

[00:08:00]Smuggling operations for [music] gold require a vast amount of money to change hands, and it has to be done in the dark.

[00:08:08]Hawala is the [music] financial system that makes it possible.

[00:08:13]Hawala and gold smuggling are deeply interconnected [music] through a symbiotic cycle. Dirty money purchases gold, and the sale of gold fuels more hawala transactions.

[00:08:24]While hawala [music] is officially illegal in India, it's tolerated in many other countries, and it has proven quite resilient [music] even where it has been outlawed.

[00:08:34]There are some practical takeaways.

[00:08:38]Recent history proves [music] India's import policy does not work without some obvious consequences.

[00:08:45]Demand [music] for gold through official channels will fall, but the 10% number cited by analysts fails to account for the increased smuggling operations [music] that will take place.

[00:08:56]Gold that's moving through the light and in the open can [music] operate at a greater scale than gold smuggled through dark channels. Some impact [music] to total demand should be expected, but it will be modest.

[00:09:08]The smuggling offset also means that relief for the rupee will be smaller than the government hopes, and the official trade statistics that are produced will look better than they are in reality.

[00:09:21]The grandmother in Mumbai will still get her gold bangles. The gold that was used to make them may simply have arrived from a different route.

[00:09:31]India's policy [music] change isn't irrational. The math on gold imports and current accounts is real, but restricting gold [music] is like squeezing a balloon. Demand compresses in one place and expands in another.

[00:09:44]Gold premiums widen in India compared to international [music] spot prices, will notice smuggling is thriving.

[00:09:52]And for precious metal investors, the bottom line is simple.

[00:09:55]The demand hit is real, but overblown.

[00:09:59]The global gold market is large enough to compensate [music] and the demand suppression in India will only be skin deep.

[00:10:07]And that's all we have for you today.

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[00:10:12]Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time.