Seizures of smuggled gold by the directorate of revenue intelligence has risen by an unprecedented 330 per cent during the April-September period as compared to last year, prompting the directorate to call on the finance ministry to bring down the import duty on the yellow metal and make smuggling less lucrative.

This development comes even as gold imports have jumped by around 450 per cent year-on-year in September touching $3.75 billion, which calls into question the effectiveness of the high import duty of 10 per cent.

Experts say that import duty has failed to as a deterrent and demand for gold has only gone up.