Imports in the category jumped three times to $ 180 million in 2018-19, from only $51.3 million in the preceding year
Gross export of gems and jewellery declined by 5.3% to $27.7 bn for the first nine months of this FY
In the last Budget, the government has increased the import duty on the yellow metal to 12.5%
The target is to formulate these regulations for about 5,000 products but the current focus is on 371 items which accounts for $127 billion worth of imports
The panel makers further said the exit of India from ICC World Cup also led to a decline in panel sales
He was replying to a question on concerns being raised by certain quarters that the hike in gold import duty to 12.5% from 10% could lead to problems like smuggling
Higher tariffs on components hurt manufacturing
Despite repeated requests from industry, govt does not want to raise levy on inbound metals
At a White House event on the Reciprocal Trade Act on Thursday, Trump flashed out a green colour board with examples of non-reciprocal tariffs from various countries
Manufacturers now say that while the government is effectively cutting off their access to foreign imports, it hasn't been able to create a suitable supply of components in the domestic sector
According to experts, some Chinese app-based and e-commerce players are misusing a rule in the foreign trade law of India
The product is a kind of specialty polyethylene/polyester film
Govt believes higher import duties on 19 non-essential items will help control the current account deficit, but analysts point out they might only reduce imports by 0.1 per cent
Whether all these items, on which tariffs were increased by the Finance Ministry, are indeed non-essential is debatable
Several items, which now attract higher levies, have seen a decline or slowdown in imports
A finance ministry source said taxing imported fuel is unlikely to increase prices and only two Indian airlines currently import some jet fuel
These items accounted for only 2.8% of total import bill in FY18
This is likely to force firms to raise the prices of consumer durables as imported components will get costlier
Travel portal Yatra.com Sharat Dhall said the imposition of 5% customs duty on ATF is bound to have a 'negative impact' on the carriers
The total value of imports of the 19 items in last fiscal year ended March was about Rs 860 billion