ForumIAS announcing GS Foundation Program for UPSC CSE 2025-26 from 10th August. Click Here for more information.
Source: The post is based on the article “Cases of aviation staff caught smuggling gold doubled in 2022-23” published in The Hindu on 23rd April 2023
What is the News?
The Department of Revenue Intelligence has released its data on gold smuggling cases in India.
About Gold Smuggling Cases in India
India is the largest importer of gold, which mainly caters to the demand of the jewellery industry.
India’s official gold imports fell around 24% to $35 billion in 2022-23 due to the government raising import duties on gold and the rupee turned weaker.
But this has coincided with a sharp spike in authorities’ detection of gold smuggled into the country with nearly 4,000 kg of smuggled gold found in the first 11 months of 2022-23, the highest in four years. Over 63% of the smuggled gold was detected at airports.
In around 29 gold smuggling cases, airline cabin crew members or airport staffers were arrested. This is twice the average number of such cases detected in the previous three years, including the pre-COVID year of 2019-20.
