India’s silver imports are expected to gather momentum in the coming months, supported by stronger investment and industrial demand that has already absorbed the surplus from last year’s elevated shipments, industry officials said.
Higher imports by the world’s biggest silver consumer could give further support to global prices that are close to their highest level in 14 years.
“With prices going up, investment demand has shot up, too – nearly twice as much as before,” Chirag Thakkar, CEO of silver importer Amrapali Group Gujarat, said on the sidelines of the India Gold Conference in New Delhi.
Silver imports are set to pick up in the coming months, with the annual total likely to be between 5,500 and 6,000 metric tons, Thakkar said.
The industry had expected a sharp drop in India’s 2025 imports after shipments more than doubled in 2024 to 7,669 tons.
India’s silver imports in the first eight months of 2025 more than halved to 2,580 tons from 5,695 tons a year earlier, provisional trade ministry data showed.
However, strong demand in recent months has depleted stocks, prompting banks and dealers to step up imports, Thakkar said.
Local silver futures hit a record high of 129,878 Indian rupees ($1,474.75) per kilogram on Tuesday and are up nearly 49% this year, outpacing a 44% jump in gold prices.
Despite the price rally, silver is trading at a slight premium over official domestic rates, which include a 6% import duty and 3% sales levy, as demand remains strong from industrial users and investors, said one Mumbai-based dealer with a private bank.
“Usually, when prices shoot up, a ton of scrap hits the market because investors cash out. But this time they’re so bullish on the outlook that hardly any scrap is showing up,” he said.
Inflows into silver exchange-traded funds reached 17.59 billion rupees in July and 19.04 billion rupees in August, well above the last fiscal year’s monthly average of 6.7 billion rupees, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed.
India imports silver mainly from the United Arab Emirates, Britain and China.
