Surat: The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has estimated the gold import to reduce by over 30% in the next three years following the amendments made by the government of India in the Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS).
GJEPC office-bearers said that under the amended scheme, there is inclusion of jewellers and refiners as gold mobilisation agent and collection and purity testing centres (CPTCs).
According to GJEPC, the GMS has enhanced the participation of banks.
All public sector banks shall be allowed to participate in GMS and provide the revamped GMS scheme on demand. Up to one third branches of the public sector banks in all towns should be designated as GMS service branches. The government has also proposed participation of private banks under the GMS.
“The revamped Gold Monetisation Scheme is a win-win situation for all as it will unlock tonnes of unused gold in India. This will not only benefit the consumer, retailer and banks, but the nation as well,” said Colin Shah, chairman of GJEPC, in a statement.
“India imports around 700 tonnes gold every year and is the second largest gold consumer after China. The dependency of gold import will come down significantly as there will be local gold in the system. We anticipate the per cent of gold import in the next three years will gradually reduce by 30 per cent which will help the country with our current account deficit,” said Shah.
“For jewellers appointed as GMCTA, remuneration of up to 1.5% of the value of gold mobilised may be paid to them. Jewellers will be benefited as it’s an additional revenue for them and they will ensure that the scheme will be a great success as they can easily convince their existing customers to park their gold in the GMS,” said K Srinivasan, convenor of gold jewellery and other precious metal jewellery committee.
