How Much Gold and Jewellery Can You Bring into India?

India's customs allowances for passengers are set by the Baggage Rules, 2026, notified by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on 1 February 2026 and in force since 2 February 2026. They replaced the Baggage Rules, 2016. The jewellery allowance is now set by weight alone: the money limits that went with it under the old rules have gone. Flying from Dubai, London or Singapore makes no difference; what matters is who you are (a resident, a person of Indian origin, a foreign tourist) and how long you have lived abroad.

Rules change, and customs officers at the airport decide whether what you carry counts as bona fide baggage. If you are carrying anything valuable, check the current rules on the CBIC website before you fly, and ask a customs officer on arrival if in doubt.

If you are a resident of India, or a tourist of Indian origin (customs counts Non-Resident Indians and OCI cardholders in this group), and you have lived abroad for more than one year, you may bring in jewellery free of duty on your return:

• a female passenger: up to 40 grams
• any other passenger: up to 20 grams

Jewellery here means articles of adornment ordinarily worn by a person, made of gold, silver, platinum or other precious metals, studded or not. Customs also treats the used personal jewellery you need for the journey as personal effects, which are free of duty; jewellery beyond that, and beyond your allowance, is allowed in on payment of duty, as long as it is genuinely your own.

A tourist of foreign origin gets no special jewellery allowance, but the jewellery you wear and need for the trip counts as personal effects. If you are bringing valuable pieces you intend to take home again, declare them on arrival and ask for a Temporary Baggage Import Certificate. It lets you bring personal effects in free of duty for your stay, on condition that you take them out again. The certificate lasts until your first departure from India or six months, whichever comes first; it cannot be extended, and you must show it, with the items, to customs when you leave.

Jewellery brought in for a wedding or another event and taken back afterwards is handled the same way: customs says it may be allowed in on the basis of a temporary baggage import certificate obtained on arrival.

Gold or silver in any form other than ornaments is listed in Annexure-I of the Baggage Rules, so it gets no duty-free allowance, and the weight-based jewellery allowance does not cover it. Gold bullion has to be declared at the Red Channel.

A passenger of Indian origin, or anyone holding a valid Indian passport, may import gold if they are returning after at least six months abroad, pay the duty in convertible foreign currency and bring no more than one kilogram. These conditions are set in customs notification No. 45/2025-Customs of 24 October 2025, and gold imports also follow the import policy of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. Anything not declared is dealt with under the Customs Act, 1962, and can be detained.

Besides personal effects, each passenger arriving other than by land may bring in new goods free of duty up to a set value:

• residents, tourists of Indian origin, and foreigners on a visa other than a tourist visa: 75,000 Indian rupees
• tourists of foreign origin: 25,000 Indian rupees

Infants get no general allowance, only their used personal effects, and nor does anyone arriving by land. Allowances cannot be pooled: a family cannot add theirs together to bring in one expensive item. Passengers aged 18 or over may also bring one new laptop or notepad free of duty. Firearms, televisions, more than 100 cigarettes, 25 cigars or 125 grams of tobacco, and more than two litres of alcohol fall outside the free allowance.

You may bring any amount of foreign currency into India, but you must declare it to customs on a Currency Declaration Form if the foreign currency notes come to more than 5,000 US dollars, or if notes, banknotes and travellers' cheques together come to more than 10,000 US dollars, or the equivalent in other currencies. Keep the stamped form: it lets you take unspent declared currency out again when you leave.

Indian rupee notes are limited: a visitor who is not a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh may bring in, and take out, up to 25,000 Indian rupees, and the Reserve Bank of India's guidance says that applies when entering through an airport. More on carrying and changing money is on our money in India guide.

If you are carrying dutiable or prohibited goods, such as gold bullion, jewellery over your allowance or currency over the limits, you must declare them on the customs baggage form, CBD-I. You can file it online up to three days before you land, through the ICEGATE portal or the Atithi app, and update it until you arrive; if you could not file it in advance, an officer may let you declare on arrival. Then walk through the Red Channel. Passengers with nothing to declare use the Green Channel.

The customs check comes after immigration and the baggage belt. The customs declaration is made on its own form, CBD-I; the e-Arrival Card you file before landing is an immigration form.

If you live in India, or are a tourist of Indian origin or a foreigner on a long-term visa, and you are taking valuable jewellery or electronics abroad, you can declare them before you leave and get an Export Certificate (form CBD-III). It makes clearing the same items on your return straightforward. It is valid until your first return to India or for six months, whichever is earlier.

If you buy jewellery in India to take home, keep the shop's tax invoice, and check your own country's customs allowance before you fly: what you pay on arrival there is set by your home country, not by India. For NRI and OCI family trips, our guide for NRIs and overseas Indians covers the rest of the planning, and ATMs and cards in India explains how to change money once you have landed.