1. London sets a dollar price
Gold trades globally in US dollars per troy ounce (31.1035 grams). The reference most of the world quotes from is the LBMA price, set twice a day in London through an electronic auction, with continuous spot trading in between. Nothing in India changes that number; India imports almost all of its gold and takes the world price as given.
2. The rupee decides what that costs you
A dollar price becomes a rupee price through the USD–INR rate, and this is the step Indian savers most often miss. Gold can be perfectly flat in dollars and still rise in rupees, simply because the rupee weakened. Over the long run a meaningful slice of Indian gold returns has come from exactly that — which is also why gold has historically behaved like a hedge against a falling rupee.
3. Duty, cess and landing costs are added
Imported gold carries customs duty plus an agriculture infrastructure and development cess, and those rates are changed in Union Budgets — the July 2024 cut, which took the headline import duty down sharply, moved domestic prices visibly in a single day. On top of duty sit freight, insurance and refining costs. The result is the landed domestic price for 24K, which is what bullion associations publish city by city.
4. A refiner quotes a two-way spread
Finally, whoever actually deals with you — Augmont, in our case — publishes a buy rate and a sell rate around that landed price. The gap between them is the spread, and it pays for making a market at all: holding inventory, hedging, and standing ready to take metal back from you on a day nobody else wants it.
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Buy rate ₹/g | What one gram costs you right now, before GST |
| + GST 3% | Statutory, on purchase only — not charged again when you sell |
| Sell rate ₹/g | What we will pay you per gram right now |
| Rate validity | A quote is held for a short window at checkout; after that it re-prices |
Why the rate moves while you are looking at it
- Global spot trading runs nearly around the clock; the biggest moves usually follow US data and Federal Reserve decisions.
- The rupee moves on its own schedule, and on some days in the opposite direction to gold, which mutes or amplifies what you see.
- Indian demand seasons — wedding months, Dhanteras, Akshaya Tritiya — tilt local premiums, though far less than the two factors above.
- Policy, occasionally and sharply: an import duty change is a step, not a drift.
Reading a jeweller's quote with the same lens
A jeweller quotes a 22K rate — 91.6% purity — so it is naturally below the 24K number you see here, and then adds making charges of anywhere from 10% to 25% plus GST. Comparing a 22K jewellery rate to a 24K bullion rate and concluding one is cheaper is the single most common mistake in Indian gold pricing. Convert to the same purity first, then add making charges, then compare.
Questions people ask
Why is the digital gold rate different from the rate in the newspaper?
Newspaper rates are usually city bullion association rates for 22K or 24K at a fixed daily time, often excluding GST. A live platform rate is a 24K buy quote at this second, before GST. Same metal, different conventions.
Why is the sell rate lower than the buy rate?
That gap is the market-maker's spread — the cost of standing ready to both sell you metal and buy it back at any time. It is not a platform fee, and it is visible to you before you transact.
Does the rupee really matter that much?
Yes. Indian gold prices are the dollar price times the USD-INR rate plus duty. A 3% rupee depreciation raises the rupee gold price by roughly 3% even if the dollar price never moves.
Written by the Ticgetz Gold team and reviewed before publication. It is general information about how digital gold works in India, not investment or tax advice, and rules change — check the date above. Rates quoted anywhere on this site are live market rates and are not a forecast.