In a move aimed at simplifying compliance and promoting ease of doing business, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has consolidated multiple earlier notifications governing the import of precious metals and stones among other goods into a single comprehensive notification — No. 45/2025–Customs, issued on 24th October 2025.
The unified notification brings under one umbrella all previous duty-related circulars for gold, silver, platinum, diamonds (natural and lab-grown), and coloured gemstones. It replaces a wide range of earlier notifications dating back to 1994, without altering the prevailing duty or IGST rates.
As per the consolidated schedule, rough diamonds continue to attract zero duty, while rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and rough coloured or semi-precious stones remain at 0.5%. Gold and silver dore bars, refined bars, and findings are subject to a 5% basic customs duty. Lab-grown diamonds and pre-forms of precious and semi-precious stones also retain their existing duty structure.
The CBIC’s streamlining of these duty notifications is expected to enhance procedural clarity, reduce instances of misinterpretation, and improve transparency for importers of precious metals and gemstones.