New Delhi, Jun 27 (IANS): Gold worth $679.16 million (Rs 4,976.07 crore) was imported in May, according to Commerce Ministry data. This is multiple times higher than $76.31 million worth of gold imported in May last year amid a nationwide lockdown.

Further, for the April-May period of FY22, import of the yellow metal stood at $6.91 billion, against $79.14 million worth of gold during the same period of last fiscal.

Although the import of gold has recovered with improving demand, silver imports, on the other hand, have depleted.

Silver worth $15.66 million was imported last month, 95.3 per cent lower on a year-on-year basis. Further, so far in FY22, $27.56 million worth of silver has been imported, nearly 94 per cent lower than the imports during the corresponding period of last fiscal.

On the other hand, export of gems and jewellery from India surged multi-fold to $6.34 billion during the period of April-May FY22 on a year-on-year basis. In May, gems and jewellery exports surged to nearly $3 billion, from $1.06 billion in May FY21.