India restricts plain silver jewellery imports to protect local manufacturers

As India enters its peak festival and wedding season, 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.

As per a notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Wednesday, plain silver jewellery has been placed in a restricted category, which means that importers will require a valid authorisation from the DGFT to bring in such consignments.

The decision comes after the commerce ministry noticed a surge in unstudded silver jewellery imports from some countries, including Thailand, over the past three months (April-June 2025), a senior government official said. The official added that much of the imported jewellery was entering India in the guise of finished products, undercutting domestic prices and threatening employment in the labour-intensive silver jewellery sector.