The illegal trade could rise further in coming months as India, the world's second biggest gold consumer, raised an import tax on gold by 2.5 percentage points to 12.5% in July's federal budget
The average gold price in the September 2019 quarter, so far, is now up 11.5% from the June quarter
Fresh buying by jewellers ahead of the festive season also aided the rally in the precious metal
Jewellers practising ethical business are needed to buy gold as underlying on the day they receive a monthly share of jewellery deposit
Money collected through deposit schemes is diverted to pay mark-to-market margin of lenders
On Friday, US President Donald Trump announced a 5 per cent additional duty on $550 billion in targeted Chinese goods
Traders attributed the gain in gold to increase in the domestic spot market demand
Gold hit a six-year high this month on prospects for easier monetary policy from the Federal Reserve and other central banks to support growth
India's consumption of gold has been affected by the government's efforts to curb its trade deficit and measures to discourage investors who used the metal to evade taxes
The current rally in the yellow metal is without real demand from Indians
Safe-haven buying of the metal has seen prices hitting a seven-year high in the international market and a life-time high in India
Allocation to yellow metal, helps MF investors offset hit on equity and debt investments
In India, a sharp fall in the equity market amid a slowing economy, subdued corporate earnings and an overall risk-averse sentiment have seen investors flock to the yellow metal
Globally, gold and silver were trading a shade higher at $1,517.30 and $16.96 an ounce
In Mumbai's physical market, standard gold (995 purity) was trading at Rs 36,850 on Wednesday, nearly Rs 1,000 lower than in the futures market
Agri, metals, oil down, gold jump sharply reacting to global economic and geo political uncertainties
Gold imported unofficially has been selling in Mumbai around Rs 34700 per 10 gram.
Two-thirds of India's gold demand comes from rural areas, where jewellery is a traditional store of wealth
Two gold maturity contracts were trading at a spread of Rs 900 per 10 gram
Price might fall sharply if the US Fed does not reduce rate and policy remains unchanged for too long