Govt Eases Silver Import Curbs for Industries

New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) The government on Monday eased import curbs for some silver items like semi-manufactured silver paste, sheets, and tubes for electrical, electronics and solar industries, to be used as inputs for their manufacturing process.

The import of these items for R&D purposes by the government or government-recognised institutions shall also be without restrictions, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.

Earlier, the import of these goods was put under the restricted category, which mandates importers to seek a license from the government for inbound shipments.

"Import of semi-manufactured silver paste, sheets, plates, strips, tubes, electrodes, wires, silver brazing alloys (in any form), by electrical, electronics and engineering industries, including glass and solar industries, as input for their own manufacturing process on 'actual user' basis shall be free," it said.

Import of these items for any other purposes shall be through specified agencies as notified by the RBI (in case of banks) and DGFT (for other agencies), it added.