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Informist, Monday, Apr. 6, 2026

MUMBAI – The on-going war in the West Asian region has severely affected gold markets across the world, leading to extreme volatility. In India's case, it has, among other effects, increased the volume of gold dore, or the impure gold, imports. This is a result of logistical disruptions in the war-affected region, prompting suppliers to reroute shipments from traditional destinations to India, where dore gold imports enjoy concessional rate of duty over refined gold.

Gold dore is a semi-pure, unrefined alloy of gold typically produced at mine sites and usually has purity ranging from 50% to 90%. It often contains impurities such as copper, lead, and zinc, and must be sent to a refinery for purification into marketable, high-purity gold. It is not used directly for jewellery or investment.

India's gold dore import volumes have risen to a record 446 tonnes in 2025 from just 50 tonnes in 2013. In terms of pure gold, the 2025 import works out to equivalent of 226 tonnes, according to a report last week by Metals Focus.

Imports of dore were first allowed in 2013, with a duty of 8%, lower than that of 10% on refined gold, to support domestic refining. The duty structure has since then undergone quite a few changes. With the changes in July 2024, the gap now stands at 0.65%--5.35% on dore against 6.00% for refined gold.

As a result of the duty differential, the share of dore in India's gold import mix has grown. The share of dor (fine gold basis) jumped to 39% in 2025 from just 7% in 2013. Reflecting this, India's gold refining landscape has also changed notably over the last decade, with the number of operations increasing to 52 last year from less than five in 2013, the research and consultancy firm said in the report.

However, local market conditions have often posed challenges to the viability of these imports. "To give some context, the domestic gold market has frequently traded at a discount over last few years, which at times has eliminated the benefit arising from the 0.65% duty differential and thereby made dore unviable after adding the cost of refining...The extensive use of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to circumvent standard duties, have been the main driver of persistent local discounts," the report said.

Moreover, in the last few years, gold also started coming in through non-conventional routes, such as gold findings, Pt-Au or platinum-gold alloys, and gold solutions. While the government has successfully restricted import of gold findings and solutions, Pt-Au has, in low volumes, continued to enter through different channels.

The report noted that nearly 52 tonnes of gold findings were imported under The Association of Southeast Asian Nations free trade agreement at duty ranging from 0% to 3%. Another 13.5 tonnes of gold solutions were imported in 2024 and 46 tonnes were imported in the first six months of 2025. Although the Pt-Au imports have largely stopped after government restrictions were imposed, small quantities still make their way into the country. Most shipments arrived during the first seven months of 2024--8 tonnes--and in the first quarter of 2025--46 tonnes. "These consignments kept the local market in a discount, averaging over $20 per ounce and widening to as much as $81," the report pointed out.

"India's high import duties until 2024 also meant that unofficial flows remained robust, at around 15-20% of total supply. As a result, the share of dore in India's total gold imports remained under 30% until 2021, despite the duty advantage."

However, government measures over time, combined with litigations around import quotas under India-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, have weighed on imports arriving at lower duties. The restrictions on gold findings, Pt-Au alloys and gold solutions over the last few years have meant that refiners have started to again focus on the dore market, it said. The share of fine dore has jumped to 38% in 2024 and 39% in 2025, above its 10-year average of 30%.

In terms of sources, Peru, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, and the US constitute the top five dore suppliers to India, accounting for over 80% of imports in 2025. Chile has recently displaced Argentina in the list of top five suppliers, as per the report. The average gold purity of dore is also trending downwards, to a record low of 51% last year, from 77% in 2022.

"Going forward, we believe that the share of dore will remain high, until other avenues offering a significant duty advantage open up. The resumption in imports at a 1% differential tariff under India-UAE CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) however remains a risk to this trend," said Metals Focus in the report.

But with ongoing uncertainty over the India-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and the government's crackdown on non-conventional import routes, currently, dore remains the only effective channel with concessional duty.

"Moreover, the volume of dore flowing into India is also likely to increase temporarily, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East (West Asia) which has heavily curbed flows into the UAE. Disruptions to logistics have reduced the UAE's ability to absorb dore, prompting refiners to reroute shipments directly to India. This will be supported by the India's substantial refining capacity of over 1,500 tonnes," the report noted.  End

Reported by Abhijit Doshi

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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