National News
GJEPC & IIBX achieve milestone with first duty-free gold import under advance authorization scheme
India’s First Duty-Free Gold Import Achieved via IIBX and GJEPC under DGFT’s I-Ux+ Scheme, Marking a New Era of Transparent and Regulated Bullion Trade
The India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX), in collaboration with the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), has achieved a major milestone by facilitating the country’s first-ever duty-free import of gold under the Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s IU X +. This breakthrough marks a new chapter in India’s bullion market, aligning with the government’s vision to streamline bullion imports through transparent and regulated channels.
Ashok Gautam, Managing Director & CEO, IIBX, said, “We thank the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) for the confidence it has bestowed on us. In our endeavour to support jewellery exports from India, IIBX has successfully enabled Advance Authorisation License Holder Qualified Jewellers to import bullion. The first transaction has been successfully concluded and cleared by Customs.”
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), through its latest circular issued on October 10, 2025, has consolidated and updated guidelines to enable Qualified Jewellers and India-UAE CEPA Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) Holders to import gold and silver through IIBX. The circular simplifies eligibility norms, operational procedures, and compliance requirements, making the process more inclusive and efficient.
Under this mechanism, jewellers holding DGFT’s Advance Authorisation License and notified as Qualified Jewellers by IFSCA can now import gold through IIBX without paying import duty, provided the metal is used for jewellery meant for export. The platform ensures full transparency, traceability, and regulatory compliance throughout the transaction chain-from purchase on IIBX to clearance by Customs.
The development is expected to significantly boost India’s jewellery exports by reducing input costs and improving liquidity for exporters. It also strengthens IIBX’s role as a trusted global bullion marketplace operating from GIFT City’s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).
India’s appetite for borrowing against gold is reshaping the country’s credit landscape. Outstanding gold-backed loans have surged 128% from a year earlier, crossing Rs.4 lakh crore ($48 billion) for the first time, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India. As of Jan. 31, loans secured by gold jewellery stood at Rs.4,00,517 crore, marking one of the fastest expansions in retail credit in recent years.
The boom in gold loans has helped propel overall non-food bank credit growth to 14.4% year-on-year. Personal loans now account for 34.5% of total bank lending, outpacing other segments and underscoring a broader shift toward consumer-driven credit expansion
Gold loans alone contributed roughly 9% of incremental bank credit during the period. Between January 2024 and January 2026, outstanding gold-backed credit rose by nearly Rs.3.1 lakh crore—an increase of about 338% over two years—more than quadrupling the size of the portfolio.
Two factors are driving the surge. First, gold prices have climbed roughly 152% over the past two years, increasing the collateral value of household holdings. Second, regulatory guidance requiring banks to classify loans secured by gold explicitly as gold loans has sharpened reporting and accelerated balance-sheet growth in the segment.
The trend highlights a distinctive feature of India’s financial system: households’ vast stock of physical gold, long viewed primarily as a store of wealth, is increasingly being mobilized as collateral for formal credit.
While personal lending and credit to nonbank financial companies within the services sector continue to expand rapidly, industrial credit remains uneven. Loans to micro, small and medium enterprises are growing steadily, but borrowing by large corporations has stayed relatively muted.
Since March 21, 2025, banks have added Rs.21.8 lakh crore to their non-food loan books, translating into 12% growth for the financial year to date. Yet it is gold—rather than factories or infrastructure—that is emerging as one of the most dynamic engines of India’s current credit cycle.
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