Gold rate today in India

This page shows an indicative gold rate for 24K, 22K and 18K. Each card gives the rate per gram and per 10 grams. The table also covers 8 grams, 12 grams (one tola) and 100 grams. You can switch every figure between the rate excluding GST and the same rate with 3% GST. Making charges are in neither number.

Rates are indicative and exclude making charges. A jeweller in your city can quote a different price for the same purity.

What 24K, 22K and 18K mean

Karat is a short way to say how much of the piece is gold. 24K on this page is 999 parts gold in 1,000. That is the usual grade for a coin or a small bar. 22K is 916 parts in 1,000. 18K is 750 parts in 1,000. The rest is another metal, added so a bangle or a chain is harder than pure gold.

A BIS hallmark on jewellery uses 916 for 22K and 750 for 18K. The top jewellery grade, 24KS, is 995. That is a little less gold than 999. A bar marked 999 is not the same product as a 24KS chain. Read the number on the piece, not only the karat word.

Where the hallmark order applies, gold jewellery needs the BIS mark, the purity, and a 6-character HUID. Ask the shop to show that code, and match it to the bill. Coins and bars sit outside that jewellery order. Keep the bill anyway. It is the record of what you paid, and you will want it if you sell.

Why gold costs more in India

Gold that is brought into India is taxed before a shop sells it to you. Basic customs duty on gold bars is 10%. The Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess, which notices shorten to AIDC, is 5% on gold other than dore. Dore is a rough bar that still needs refining. A jewellery shop does not sell you dore. Those two charges are a large part of why a gram of gold in India costs more than the metal alone.

A shop bill then adds 3% GST. GST is a tax on the sale. It is not a making charge. Making charges are the shop’s fee for the work: a bangle, a chain, a coin or a setting. There is no single government rate for that fee. One city, and one shop in that city, can charge more than another for the same design. Stones and wastage sit on the bill as well.

Use the cards to see the metal. Use the invoice to see what you will actually pay. If the rate is getting old, the line above the cards says when it was last updated.

Weights people compare

Eight grams is a light chain. Ten grams is the weight many people compare, which is why it sits on the card next to the per-gram rate. Twelve grams is one tola, a weight still used at many counters. One hundred grams is a small bar. The chips under the cards move the highlight to that column, so you can read one weight without losing the others.

The box beside these notes, or under them on a phone, prices any weight you type. Pick 24K, 22K or 18K, type the grams, and read the metal, the 3% GST and the total. Making charges are still left out. If you are comparing two shops, compare the same purity and the same weight, then look at the making charges on each bill.

Before you pay

Match the hallmark to the bill when the order applies. A price far below every other shop in the market is a reason to slow down, not a reason to skip the bill. Pay by a method you can trace, and keep the invoice with the piece.

Tax when you later sell gold is a separate question from today’s rate. The tax on gold guide sets out the rules. The gold options guide puts a chain, a coin, a gold ETF and a Sovereign Gold Bond side by side. The bond is not priced on this page. Silver for the same day is on silver rate today.