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Gold Silver Import: The central government on Friday gave permission to 15 big banks to import gold and silver from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2029. This list includes major banks like State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. At the same time, Union Bank of India and Sberbank have been allowed to import only gold during this period. This notification has been issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

This step of the government has been taken with the aim of making the import of bullion (gold and silver) systematic and transparent. Importing only through authorized banks will ease monitoring of transactions and help curb irregularities.

Gold imports at low level in March 2026

Banks authorized by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) include Axis Bank, Bank of India, Deutsche Bank, Federal Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Punjab National Bank, Yes Bank and many others, which have been allowed to import both gold and silver. Meanwhile, India’s gold imports fell to a nine-month low of $3.1 billion in March 2026.

In terms of quantity, it was around 20-25 tonnes, which is much less than the average of 62 tonnes in the last 12 months. According to the World Gold Council (WGC), this is due to lack of demand and supply constraints from the Middle East, which is an important transit hub for India.

Gold prices show improvement in April

Some improvement has been seen in gold prices in April. At the same time, due to reduction in imports and supply problems, discounts in the domestic market have also reduced. Listed jewelery companies performed well in the first quarter of 2026, contributed by the wedding season, increased spending and business expansion. Moreover, inflows into gold ETFs in India continued for the 11th consecutive month.

According to data from the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI), there was a net investment of about Rs 22.7 billion (US$244 million) in ETFs in March 2026. The statement said that investor interest in gold ETFs continues and the increase in the number of accounts or portfolios shows that this interest is growing, albeit at a slow pace.

Strong buying of digital gold

Buying of digital gold also remained strong. in February Unified Payments Interface Digital gold worth about Rs 30.3 billion was purchased through (UPI), which is equivalent to about 1.9 tonnes in terms of quantity.