"Is there a chandi ghotala?: Jairam Ramesh on "gigantic jump" in silver import from UAE

New Delhi: Stating that India's silver imports from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) jumped "gigantically" to USD 1.44 billion in a year, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh asked, "Is there a chandi ghotala (silver scam)?
The Congress General Secretary said that India's silver imports from the UAE had surged from a modest USD 2.2 million between January and April 2023 to a whopping USD 1.44 billion over the same period this year. He implied that it could be a silver scam and compared it to the electoral bond controversy.

"India's silver imports from UAE stood at USD 2.2 million during Jan-April 2023. India's silver imports from UAE jumped gigantically to USD 1.44 billion--yes, billion which is equal to 1000 million. This is a 654x jump in one year. We knew of the chanda ghotala masquerading as electoral bonds. Is there a chandi ghotala here?" Ramesh asked in the post on 'X' on Saturday.
He quoted a business daily in his post, which reported that the government is concerned over a 647-times spike in the import of silver from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The newspaper adds that the government is likely to take this matter up with the UAE.
The rise in silver imports from the UAE follows the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries, which offers certain concessions, the newspaper said.
CEPA is a free trade agreement between the UAE and India that was signed on February 18, 2022 and came into effect on May 1, 2022.
As per the government data cited by the newspaper, the overall import of silver grew 10 times during the first four months of the calendar year (Jan-April) to USD 3.16 billion.
It further adds that the UAE is now India's "largest source" (45 per cent) of silver imports, though until a year ago, the UAE was not even India's top five import partner for silver.
It claimed that the government is actively looking into the matter of rising silver imports and plans to share its concerns with the UAE.
The report further added that the silver products imported from the UAE were dominated by the silver grains, which are mainly used to make jewellery.
"The Commerce department has been trying to understand the reason behind the surge despite the stringent rules of origin, or the norms mandating 3 per cent value addition, that were agreed upon under the trade deal," the newspaper added.
Going forward, the newspaper added that a meeting has also taken place between Customs and the Department of Commerce on the issue, citing its sources.