Reserve Bank granted general permission to persons of Indian nationality or origin to bring into India, as part of their baggage, up to 100 Kg, after staying abroad for a period of not less than 6 months.

1. A baggage declaration form has to be filled for the unaccompanied baggage..
2. When the passenger has declared the silver, but could not clear it for want of sufficient foreign exchange for paying Customs duty, then re-export of the same may be permitted.

Conditions
1. The required eligibility is that the person should be of Indian origin and holding a valid passport.

2. A person can bring to India silver upto 100 kilograms as part of their personal baggage.

3. Passenger is coming to India after a stay abroad of about six months. Short visits of duration not exceeding 30 days will be ignored, if this facility has not been availed by the passenger during such visits.

4. The silver may be brought into India in any form, including ornaments (other than ornaments studded with stones and pearls).

5. The rate of duty on import of silver is Rs. 500 per kilogram which is payable in foreign currency.

6. Import should be made at the time of arrival of the passenger or within 15 days of the arrival of the passenger into India.

7. A declaration need to be filed by the importer for obtaining the permitted quantity of silver from customs bonded warehouse of State Bank of India or from Metal & Mineral Trading Corporation subject to other conditions.

Baggage Rule for import of Silver
Custom Bonded Warehouse - This is a option to take delivery of the metals in India from the customs bonded warehouses to be operated by the State Bank of India and the Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC).

1. Sometimes physical carriage of silver involved security hazards, particularly for passengers arriving by flights landing at odd hours during nights, it was thought fit to introduce Customs Bonded Warehouses.

2. This facility would be operated by SBI and MMTC in Delhi, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram and specified delivery centers.

3. Passengers availing of this facility would have the option to make the payment for the silver in foreign exchange either abroad or in India.

4. In cases where passengers had made the payment abroad and were found ineligible for import on their arrival in India, appropriate provision for refund would be provided under the scheme.

5. Passengers intending to avail of the facility of delivery of silver through such warehouses would be required to make a declaration to this effect before the customs authorities at the time of their arrival in the country at the respective airports – Sahar, IGI Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram.

6. The eligibility of the passengers would be decided by the customs authorities at the time of customs clearance of the passengers and such passengers would deposit the duty at the airport itself.

Silver Jewellery
1. A passenger who has been residing abroad for over one year and is returning to India may be allowed to import, free of duty, jewellery in his use up to an aggregate value of ten thousand rupees in the case of a male passenger and twenty thousand rupees in case of a female passenger. The jewellery, which is in addition to the jewellery otherwise allowed without payment of duty (under the Baggage Rules) only is liable to payment of duty under the above mentioned scheme for import of silver.


Concessional duty on Import of silver as Baggage
1. The required duty shall be paid in convertible foreign currency.

2. The eligible passenger (eligible conditions as given above) should file a declaration in the prescribed form before the proper officer of customs at the time of his arrival in India declaring his warehouse and pays the duty leviable thereon before his clearance from customs.

Clearance of Silver on Payment of Duty
1. The passenger is required to file a declaration on the prescribed form before the Customs Officer at the time of arrival in India stating his intention to obtain the silver from the customs bonded warehouse and pay the duty before clearance

Silver Coins
1. There is no restriction on import of foreign coins (whether current or non-current) made of silver or any other metal. Eligible passengers may be allowed to import silver in any form, including coins (whether current/non-current/commemorative) but excluding jewellery studded with stones or pearls.