India Unlikely to Offer Gold Concessions in GCC Trade Talks Amid Surge in UAE Imports

India is likely to exclude any tariff concessions on gold under its proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a government source told Moneycontrol.

The report said that India did not include it in the trade deal with Oman, so it is highly unlikely that they will do so with the GCC.

India signed the terms of reference (ToR) with the six-nation bloc on February 5, setting the guidelines for negotiations by defining its scope and modalities.

FY25, India’s trade with GCC stood at $78.56bn, with exports amounting to $56.87bn and imports at $121.68bn, contributing for 15.42% of India’s global trade.

Collectively, the GCC countries represent a market of 61.5mn people and $2.3trn in terms of GDP at current prices. The cumulative investments from the GCC region stands at $31.14bn as of September 2025.

India's key exports to GCC include engineering goods, rice, textiles, machinery, gems and jewelry while it imports crude oil, LNG, petrochemicals, and precious metals such as gold. However, by keeping signalling a cautious approach toward liberalising trade in precious metals.

On the other hand, India signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Oman in December last year. However, India did not extend any duty concessions on gold and silver jewellery to protect the interest of domestic farmers and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

India-UAE CEPA has encouraged gold imports from the UAE at a large scale due to lower tariffs. India allows imports of a specified quota of gold at a concessional customs duty of 1%, along with silver imports from the Gulf nation at a reduced duty of 7%.

Since it came into force in May 2022, gold imports from the UAE have risen by around 188%, increasing from $5.8bn in FY22 to nearly $16.8bn in FY25. Silver imports have surged even more sharply, climbing over 4,500% from under $10mn to about $449mn over the same period.