Bangalore: Increasing attempts to smuggle in gold across the nation-including at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA)-is becoming a major headache for the authorities. Airports across major metros and other important cities have been reporting increasing smuggling activity, and, officials attribute the reason to the hike in gold import duty, which was hiked from 2% to 10% last year. The issue is troubling the retail industry in the country too.
In 2013-14, there were 99 cases of gold smuggling in KIA, which saw authorities seize 73.431-kg of gold worth an estimated Rs 25.3 crore. This is an increase from two cases with 2.4-kg of gold worth Rs 69 lakh being seized in the previous year.
This year, the number of cases at KIA has already touched 34, with 31.08-kg of the yellow metal worth Rs 8.85 crore having been seized. "...We've seen cases in the past. But the sheer magnitude in increase is alarming," a department of revenue intelligence (DRI) official said.
27/07/14 Chetan Kumar
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In 2013-14, there were 99 cases of gold smuggling in KIA, which saw authorities seize 73.431-kg of gold worth an estimated Rs 25.3 crore. This is an increase from two cases with 2.4-kg of gold worth Rs 69 lakh being seized in the previous year.
This year, the number of cases at KIA has already touched 34, with 31.08-kg of the yellow metal worth Rs 8.85 crore having been seized. "...We've seen cases in the past. But the sheer magnitude in increase is alarming," a department of revenue intelligence (DRI) official said.
27/07/14 Chetan Kumar
