Mumbai: India’s gold jewellery imports surged 10 per cent to Rs. 696.44 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal as high premium on the yellow metal following tough import norms forced traders to get finished jewellery from abroad, the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has said.

However, import of gold bars declined marginally by 3.32 per cent to Rs. 8,261.88 crore in the April-June period of 2014-15, it said.

“Gold jewellery imports rose in Q1 because the premium on gold in the domestic market was very high during April-May in the wake of import curbs. Importing gold jewellery was more viable at that time,” the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) senior official, Kunal Joshi said.

But the import volumes have declined in June compared to the previous months and the shipments are expected to further drop as premium on gold in the domestic market has come down after the RBI relaxed import norms in May-end, he said.

Currently, the premium on gold has come down to Rs. 1 per gram of gold from Rs. 200 per gram in April, another GJEPC official said.

On the contrary, GJPEC said import of gold bars fell 3.32 per cent to Rs. 8,261.88 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal compared with Rs. 8,545.73 crore in the year ago.

Joshi said: “Gold bar imports fell as the 20:80 rule on gold imports was effective this year. Under this rule, it was mandatory to re-export 20 per cent of all bullion imports.”

However, gold bar shipments are expected to surge in July with the easing of gold import norms, he added.

On May 21, the Reserve Bank had relaxed the gold import norms by allowing select trading houses, in addition to already permitted banks, to procure the precious metal to boost exports.

The RBI in July last year had imposed severe restrictions on gold imports to check the burgeoning current account deficit and sliding rupee.