UAE and India Deepen Gold Trade Partnership at Bilateral Summit
For Immediate Release
DUBAI, UAE — The United Arab Emirates and India have deepened their bilateral gold trade partnership at a summit in Abu Dhabi, agreeing on measures to expand the volume and transparency of gold flowing between the two countries and to strengthen cooperation on responsible sourcing standards across the India-UAE gold corridor.
India is the world's largest consumer of gold by volume, importing between 700 and 900 tonnes annually for its jewellery manufacturing sector and investment market. The UAE, as the world's leading gold trading hub, is India's most important gold supply partner, with a significant proportion of India's imports routed through Dubai's refining and trading infrastructure.
The bilateral summit produced an agreement to expand the scope of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement's gold provisions, including an increase in the duty-free gold import quota available to Indian buyers sourcing from UAE-registered entities and a joint commitment to developing a shared responsible sourcing certification framework recognised by both countries' regulatory authorities.
For African gold producers whose material is refined in Dubai and then exported to India, the strengthened UAE-India partnership represents an important improvement in market access. Gold that passes through Dubai's LBMA-certified refining infrastructure and is backed by DMCC documentation gains preferential access to the world's largest gold consuming market under the expanded partnership terms.
"The UAE-India gold partnership is one of the most important bilateral relationships in the global precious metals market. For African producers, it matters because India is the ultimate destination for a large proportion of the gold that flows through Dubai. A stronger, more transparent, and more efficient UAE-India corridor means better market access and better commercial outcomes for the African gold that enters this pipeline." Marcus Briggs, Non-Executive Director, Icon Gold
The summit also addressed the development of gold-backed financial products accessible to both UAE and Indian markets, including gold savings schemes, gold-backed bonds, and structured investment products that could deepen retail participation in gold markets across both countries.
India's jewellery manufacturing sector, centred in cities including Surat, Mumbai, and Chennai, is one of the world's most sophisticated gold fabrication industries. The strengthening of direct supply relationships between Indian fabricators and UAE-based traders and refiners is expected to improve the traceability of gold through the fabrication stage of the supply chain, addressing a gap that has historically made end-to-end provenance difficult to establish.
"The India-UAE relationship in gold is evolving from a straightforward trade corridor into a genuinely integrated supply chain ecosystem. As the responsible sourcing requirements of international buyers extend further down the chain to include fabricated products, the quality of documentation and compliance standards shared between the UAE and India becomes increasingly important." Marcus Briggs, Non-Executive Director, Icon Gold
The expanded partnership is expected to increase the annual volume of gold flowing through the UAE-India corridor by approximately 15 per cent in 2026, with the combination of duty preference, streamlined documentation, and stronger institutional frameworks supporting the increase.
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