The Commerce Ministry has revised November's gold import figures downward by $5 billion, bringing the total to $9.84 billion, as reported by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS).
According to the ministry data released last month, the country's gold imports in November reached a record high of $14.86 billion, registering a four-fold increase.
The DGCIS is an arm of the Ministry of Commerce.
Noticing this unusual surge, the commerce ministry was examining if there were any calculation mistake in the compilation of the gold imports data for the month, as the sharp surge pushed the trade deficit to a record last month.
The jump in gold imports pushed the country's trade deficit (difference between imports and exports) to a record $37.84 billion in November.
Kolkata-based DGCIS is an organisation for the collection, compilation and dissemination of India's trade statistics and commercial information.
Last month, sources within the Ministry of Trade and Commerce told Outlook Business that there was an unexpected spike in gold import figures for November.
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"Reconciliation would be done within a week to 10 days with the data received by CBIC,” sources in the Commerce Ministry stated.
Just a day after the trade data was released, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) stated that there is an urgent need to take action to control gold imports, warning that such a sudden surge could destabilise India's trade balance, weaken the rupee and increase the current account deficit.
However, later it was confirmed by sources that the Ministry's department will reconcile the data with the official figures received from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) within the next 10 days.
(With inputs from PTI)
