Silver premium seen rising on lack of import licensing clarity - Metals Focus
This story was originally published at 15:34 IST on 6 July 2026
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MUMBAI – Silver prices have started commanding a premium in the local market for the last few weeks due to lack of clarity on import licensing requirement, Metals Focus said in a report. India's import of silver began slowing down in April and collapsed to 47 tonnes in May, the lowest monthly figure since July 2023. India imported 1,837 tonnes of silver between January and May, down 16 on year and 3% lower than the five-year average, it said.
The slowdown was driven by a combination of subdued domestic demand and a series of government measures aimed at restricting precious metals inflows. "With little clarity among traders who would otherwise import silver, the local market has shifted to a premium since early June. It remains to be seen if the industry is able to resume normal imports as the festive and wedding season starts from September," the report said.
The Indian government's stance towards precious metals has become more restrictive in the past few months. Amid elevated oil prices, India's current account deficit has widened. To help reduce this deficit, the government has tried to curb precious metals imports--the second largest category in value terms after crude oil, and accounting for 7-10% of India's total merchandise imports.
"Since March, the precious metals trade has witnessed delays concerning the renewal of import licenses. These measures were seen as the early signs of a shift to a more restrictive policy. As oil prices climbed, the Indian prime minister appealed to consumers to postpone buying gold and silver by a year. Following those comments, authorities hiked the standard import duty for gold and silver from 6% to 15% and for platinum from 6.4% to 15.4%." Import licences started getting delayed.
With so little silver imported amid these restrictions, the market is now becoming considerably tighter, which is likely to be exacerbated in the coming months as the festive and wedding season emerges, the report said, and pointed out that premiums on the white metal were already rising, from $0.1 per ounce in the first week of June to $6.3 per ounce now.
"There is also some confusion as to whether banks will require the license or traders will first need to apply for one, as importing without a license is not possible. We expect this to remain a significant hurdle in the coming months, which is therefore likely to see the local silver premium climb further," the report said. End
US$1 = INR 95.40
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Reported by Abhijit Doshi
Edited by Avishek Dutta
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