Muscat: Indians living in Oman has a surprise gift in the latest budget announced by the government early this month…buying gold from Oman is now less expensive. How? By raising the import duty on gold to 12.5 per cent from 10 per cent, buying gold in India has become 2.5 per cent more expensive than in Oman.

Speaking to The Arabian Stories, Anto Ignatious, Regional Manager (Oman) of Joyalukkas has encouraged customers to buy gold from Oman before flying to India. “Buying gold from here (Oman) will be more beneficial than buying it from India because of the import duty,” he said.

“Most of the people are now in India due to summer holidays and I am sure once they are back they will rush to the stores across Oman to buy gold,” he added.

Ignatious also encouraged customers to make use of the ongoing promotion at Joy Alukkas. 

Best news for retailers 

With the revised duty structure, the customer will save more than INR 400 (about OMR 2.25) per gram on gold purchases from GCC countries. The price benefits will be magnified if the Indian rupee were to lose ground against the dollar. Right now, the rupee is hovering at 178/180to the riyal.

According to Rajesh Govindan, Managing Partner of Cochin Gold & Diamonds, the budget announcement will definitely help bulk buyers, especially those buying for wedding related purchases. “No doubt, this is the best news we received. I advice people who are going for wedding functions to buy gold from here as they will be more beneficial. We have some great offers at our Ruwi branch with some  items are on zero making charge and I urge customers to make use of this,” he said. 

“I am sure that the import duty hike will see most of the Indian customers returning back to jewellery stories across Middle East and I am sure there will be record sales in all these stores in the coming months” Rajesh added. 

Cost-effective trip to India

Abdul Salam K P, the group executive director of Malabar Group, the parent company of Malabar Gold and Diamonds said: “If a family of four visits and brings back jewellery in a reasonable quantity, they can cover their trip cost easily. They also have the additional benefit of a much wider choice from international jewellery”

He added that even the most popular designs and artefacts of India will be much cheaper in Oman, other GCC states, Singapore and Malaysia.