look news india
Kathmandu, July 26 (HS). Custom duty on gold has been reduced in India but custom duty has been increased in Nepal. Now due to the difference in the price of gold between the two countries, businessmen associated with it are afraid of increased gold smuggling.
In the Union Budget 2024-25 presented in Parliament by India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, it has been proposed to reduce the customs duty on gold. While presenting the budget, the Finance Minister has proposed to reduce the customs duty on gold from 15 percent to just 6 percent. Due to the reduction in customs duty, the price of gold in India is going to fall drastically.
On the other hand, the Nepal government has increased the custom duty on gold in the budget presented last month. In the 2024-25 budget passed by the Parliament of Nepal, the custom duty on gold has been increased from 15 percent to 20 percent. In this way, gold is likely to be cheaper in India and more expensive in Nepal than before.
Arjun Rasaili, President of Nepal Gold Businessmen Federation, said that with the implementation of India's new budget, prices will fall drastically. He said that gold prices are already increasing in Nepal and when gold comes to the market as per Nepal's new budget, it will become even more expensive. Due to this, there is a possibility of increase in smuggling from India to Nepal.
Former president of the federation and Nepal's biggest gold trader Manikaratna Shakya said that till now gold has been smuggled into India through Nepal. Gold was smuggled on a large scale from China or Dubai to India taking advantage of the open borders, but after the budgets of both countries are announced, the situation is going to reverse. Shakya claims that now even Nepal's traders can buy gold from India's border areas instead of buying it at high prices from the Nepal government.