To meet its huge demand for gold, India has now become more proactive about where to source the precious metal. For several decades, the approach was very straightforward: importing refined and stamped gold directly from secure warehouses in Switzerland. Today, this traditional method is changing. Indian gold importers are now shifting their sources due to tax exemptions, special tariff benefits and increased gold refining capacity in the country under the India-United Arab Emirates (UAE) trade agreement.

Swiss gold is losing its luster

Over the past 5 years, there has been a major shift in India’s sources of gold imports geographically. The main reason for this is the expansion of the refining industry within the country. Debajit Saha, chief metals analyst at London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), said in an ET report that Indian refiners have built a strong supply chain for ‘door’ as refining capacity has increased. This has reduced India’s traditional dependence on pure gold from Switzerland.

‘Dor’ is a form of gold that has been partially refined. Often other metals like silver are also found in it. It is further refined in refineries to make gold bars (bars) and coins. Saha said the 0.65 per cent duty benefit given to refiners has reinforced this change.

At the same time, the India-UAE trade agreement has opened up a new avenue of imports through ‘tariff-rate quota’ (TRQ). Due to these changes, India now has many options for buying gold. Switzerland’s share is now declining, while other suppliers and routes are becoming more important.

According to India’s tariff rules, ‘Dore’ is taxed at 0.65 percent less than finished gold (bullion). This benefits refineries operating within the country, as they find it more profitable to refine gold here rather than importing finished gold from Zurich (Switzerland).

In May 2022, the ‘Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement’ (CEPA) between India and the UAE came into force. Under this agreement, India is allowed to impose a 1% lower tariff than the normal import duty on gold imports from the UAE through the ‘Tariff Rate Quota’ (TRQ) system. According to the Global Trade Research Institute (GTRI), the quota was initially set at 120 tonnes per annum, which will increase to 200 tonnes from 2027. This will cover about 25% of India’s gold imports.

India increased the standard import duty on gold from 6% to 15% from May 13, 2026. Gold imported under the UAE quota attracts a duty of 14%, which is 1 percent less than the standard rate. At the same time, there is an import duty of 14.35% on raw gold dore – which is 0.65 percent lower than the standard rate of 15% on finished bullion.

The Dubai Factor

Switzerland, the UAE and the United Kingdom have long been major sources of bullion for India, while African and Latin American countries have provided large supplies of dore used in local refineries. But now this business map is changing.

Switzerland’s share of India’s gold imports has nearly halved to 21.9 percent in FY 2026 from 42.4 percent five years ago, according to CRISIL Intelligence Director Sehul Bhatt. At the same time, the UAE’s share increased from 10.8 percent to 16.5 percent.

Bhatt said in an ET report that the main reason behind this change is India-UAE CEPA (Trade Agreement). He said that the increase in domestic refining capacity in the last five years has led to increased imports of raw gold (Dore) from Ghana, Chile and Peru, thereby diversifying India’s gold supply chain.

In June 2026, India imported gold worth $649.4 million from the UAE, up 175.2 percent from $235.9 million in June 2025.

Warning about India’s growing inclination towards the UAE for gold, GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said the trend raises concerns as there is neither gold mining nor any major processing in the UAE. It appears that a major part of this trade is importing gold from third countries through Dubai, with the sole purpose of taking advantage of the low tariffs imposed in India.

GTRI has suggested that ‘rules of origin’ should be tightened to protect India’s trade balance and foreign exchange reserves, concessions on precious metals under FTAs ​​(Free Trade Agreements) should be reviewed and gold, silver, platinum and diamonds should be excluded from future trade agreements.

Supra Pacific Financial Services CEO Manoj Ravi said trade agreements like the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) can facilitate trade, but it is important to ensure that the ‘rules of origin’ are effectively implemented and that tariff benefits are only available when there is real ‘value addition’.

Gold Coming to India: Different Forms

All the gold that comes to India is not just for one purpose. Some gold comes in the form of ‘door’ (a mixture of raw gold), while some comes in the form of refined bullion (pure gold bars or bars), which can be used directly by jewellers.

This difference is important because India’s refining capacity is increasing, which is changing the source of gold. Now, apart from the traditional bullion centres, avenues are opening up for the import of raw gold from other places as well.

The mode of purchase of gold by Central Bank (RBI) is completely different. According to Saha, the purchase is not due to demand from jewelers or general investors, but for the purpose of ‘reserve management’. India’s gold reserves stood at 880.52 tonnes in the second quarter of 2026, the same as the previous quarter.

The route through which gold will arrive in India depends on who is ordering it and where it will be used or processed. Adarsh ​​Dive, research consultant at Metals Focus (which is the main external research partner for the World Gold Council – WGC) told ET in an ET report that if a refinery in Haryana asks for ‘Dore’, it usually comes through Delhi. At the same time, if the gold is to be used for export of jewellery, it can come through Mumbai to reach the units of Santa Cruz Electronics Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ).

He further said that the gold imported by the Central Bank is separate and the route from which it comes is not disclosed. This difference is significant as India imports around 700-900 tonnes of gold every year and is the second largest consumer of gold in the world after China. Gold trade in India is driven primarily by jewelery and investment demand, while official purchases (by the central bank) have various purposes, including building and managing the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

important aspects

The form and route through which gold enters a country—whether ‘strings’ for refining or refined bullion for production and investment—affects the country’s ‘value addition’ and the competitiveness of the jewelery industry. According to Ravi, the changing trade policies of America can also affect the flow of gold globally. It will depend on what actions they take and what impact they have on various trade routes. He further said that going forward, India’s focus should be on building a transparent, robust and affordable ‘gold supply chain’. This will boost refining within the country, support the jewelery industry ecosystem and ensure that trade gains translate into real economic value for the country.