As per a notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), plain silver jewellery has been been placed in a restricted category, which means that importers will require a valid authorization from the DGFT to bring in such consignments. the government has moved to restrict imports of plain silver jewellery to protect domestic manufacturers and safeguard jobs in the sector at a time of high demand.

The Commerce Ministry noticed a surge in unstudded silver jewellery imports from some Asean countries, including Thailand, over the past three months (April-June 2025). Much of the imported jewellery was entering India in the guise of finished products, undercutting domestic prices and threatening employment in the labor-intensive silver jewellery sector.

Goods under the restriction category need a licence from the government.The restricted products include articles of jewellery of precious metal, silver, and unstudded and other jewellery, which were free earlier.Asean, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, comprises 10 countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.