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India imported 471.9 tonne of gold from Switzerland in 2014 |
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MUMBAI: As much as three-fifths of India's total gold imports in 2014 came from Switzerland, reflecting a significant jump in just a couple of years.
India imported 471.9 tonne of gold from Switzerland in 2014, according to precious metals consultancy GFMS Thomson Reuters that quoted a country-by-country breakdown of gold imports and exports released by the Alpine country for the first time since 1980.
This represents 61% of India's total gold imports of 769 tonne last year, as per World Gold Council data.
Industry sources say the quantum of gold imports from Switzerland has increased to around 60% in 2013 and 2014 from an average 45%-50% in the decade through 2012.
Rajesh Mehta, chairman at Indian gold jewellery exporter Rajesh Exports, said "better systems" in Switzerland may have helped increase gold imports from there vis-a-vis other major suppliers such as South Africa and Australia.
According to GFMS Thomson Reuters, monthly gold inflows into India from Switzerland increased significantly in the last four months of 2014, from anywhere between 20.9 tonne to 44.3 tonne during January-August to up to 77 tonne in November "as fabricators started to build up towards the festive season".
India was the second-largest importer of gold from Switzerland, in 2014, after Greater China (Hong Kong and Mainland China) which imported 596.6 tonne of Swiss gold.
According to WGC, gold imports into India in 2014 were down 7% from 2013 figures, when the country imported 825 tonne of the yellow metal.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com
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