Argus News - New Baggage Rules Announced: Here’s How Much Gold You Can Carry Free

New Delhi, Feb 3: Travellers returning to India from abroad have something to cheer for as the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has announced the new baggage rules.

The revised Baggage rules, which came into effect on February 2, sees increase in duty-free allowance for goods as well as gold jewellery.

The revised rules will allow Indian citizens, persons of Indian origin as well as foreign nations having valid visas carry goods worth up to ₹75,000 duty-free. Under the previous rule, the duty-free goods’ limit was set at ₹50,000. The duty-free limit for foreign tourists has been set at ₹25,000.

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Gold lovers have even more to cheer for as the new rules allow the Indian citizens, who have stayed abroad over a year, bring double the amount of gold jewellery duty-free compared to the previous rules.

Female travellers are now permitted to carry up to 40 grams of gold jewellery duty-free, while men can bring up to 20 grams. However, as the saying goes - if there are benefits, there must be restrictions. The revised rules mention that gold coins and gold biscuits remain excluded from duty-free category. These kinds of goods will have customs duty.

In addition, travellers above the legal age of 18 are allowed to carry a new laptop or notepad duty-free. But, here’s the catch as CBIC clarified - these allowances are strictly for personal use and not for resale.

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Additionally, the revised rules state that travellers must comply with Foreign Exchange Management Act, 2015 (FEMA) regulations when carrying Indian or foreign currency.