Indian government imposes import curbs on platinum alloy with less than 99% purity

The Government of India has imposed import curbs on platinum alloy with less than 99 per cent purity to curb illicit imports of this precious metal blended with significant amounts of gold. Importers of such platinum alloys are now required to obtain import authorisation from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for the inbound shipments.

The decision follows cases where this alloy blended with significant amounts of gold was imported to exploit the tariff differential between gold and platinum. According to the DGFT notification,” Import policy of platinum is revised from free to restricted except for platinum alloy of 99 per cent or more purity by weight of platinum.”  To ensure a smooth supply of platinum for jewellery manufacturing and industrial use, the government allows the unrestricted import of platinum alloy with 99 per cent or higher purity of platinum.