New Delhi, May 20 -- The government allocated a 180-tonne quota for gold imports from the UAE at concessional duty rates under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on Monday.

This allocation comes amid claims from a traders' association that approximately 1,400 applications were rejected in the process.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) received an unprecedented number of applications for the 2025-26 gold import quota, with requests totalling 25 times the available allocation.

Under the CEPA framework, eligible importers can bring in gold at a reduced 5 per cent duty rate from the United Arab Emirates.

Industry sources report that while the concessional import facility typically attracts significant in...