Page 42 - Bullion World Issue 01 Volume 06 January_2026

Bullion World | Volume 6 | Issue 01 | January 2026

Key implications: Effect for investors/AMCs:
• The TRQ bidding route introduces market • This proposal should lead to closer tracking
discipline, transparency and possibly price of domestic market realities, reducing NAV
discovery for quota holders. divergence during global/local mismatches.
• Imports via IIBX + IFSC streamline settlement/ • Better comparability across funds, improved
custody, which may reduce logistic & compliance transparency for retail investors.
overheads. • Encourages the domestic bullion market
• For jewellers/exporters, being TRQ-eligible and ecosystem (price reporting, exchange publication).
IIBX-connected becomes more important. • While the final circular is still awaited, the direction
• The policy suggests a tilt away from purely ad-hoc indicates a push toward localisation of valuation
licensing toward structured access and market methodology.
infrastructure.
Quality, Traceability & Hallmarking
Lending, Collateral & Consumer Safeguards In the domain of quality assurance, the Bureau of
On the credit side, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Indian Standards (BIS), working with the Ministry
issued its Lending Against Gold and Silver Collateral of Consumer Affairs, began rollout of HUID-based
Directions, 2025, formally recognising silver as eligible voluntary hallmarking for silver under the revised
collateral (for the first time in that explicit form) and standard IS 2112:2025 (effective 1 September
standardising practices around valuation, purity testing, 2025)-introducing seven fineness grades and digital
custody, auctions and release-timelines. (Draft earlier; traceability. Additionally, hallmarking scope has
final mid-2025.) A noteworthy clause: if a lender delays reportedly expanded to include 9-karat gold, targeting
returning collateral after full repayment (for reasons affordability and consumer segments beyond premium
attributable to the lender), the borrower is entitled to jewellery. News reports highlight landmark cases of
₹5,000/day compensation beyond the specified release enforcement action against unauthorised hallmarking
timeline. centres.

Why it’s important: Why this shift matters:
• Lenders (banks/NBFCs) must now adopt a • Silver, historically less standardised in hallmarking
uniform playbook for gold & silver collateral- than gold, now gains formal traceability-which
covering impressive details: purity verification, helps consumer confidence and export credibility.
documentation, release timelines. • 9K gold hallmarking opens lower-price segments
• Borrowers get enhanced protection and to formal certification, expanding the market.
predictability-particularly important in a high- • Stronger enforcement reinforces deterrence
volume gold-loan market. against purity/fake risk and supports formal
• The inclusion of silver opens new liquidity avenues jewellery trade growth.
for MSMEs/jewellers who hold silver inventories.
• Compliance obligations and operational standards Tariff, Customs & Cost Lines
for collateral-based lending get elevated markedly. The CBIC consolidated customs exemption
notifications into Notification 45/2025-Customs (24
In effect, collateral-credit linked to precious metals October 2025), merging 31 earlier documents into a
is seeing both expansion (silver) and formalisation single framework-reducing compliance complexity for
(processes/legalities) in 2025. importers of precious metals and related goods.

Market Products & Pricing: ETFs & Valuation Also, new tariff-value updates for gold and silver
In July 2025, SEBI released a consultation paper (effective 1 November 2025) under Section 14(2) of
proposing that gold and silver Exchange-Traded Funds the Customs Tariff Act changed landed cost for many
(ETFs) adopt domestic spot prices (published by Indian importers, especially commercial refiners and bullion
commodity exchanges) as their valuation reference for houses.
NAV calculation, rather than relying purely on global
benchmarks. Feedback closed in August.

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