The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) released the latest data for imports of raw materials for gems and jewellery. According to the data, the gold bar imports by the country witnessed a huge fall of 67.61 per cent in August over the year. The provisional figures released by GJEPC suggests that the total gold bar imports by the country in August amounted to INR 1,936.32 crores (USD 306.33 million).In rupee terms, the gold bar imports have declined sharply by 67.61 per cent. The decline in dollar terms stood at 71.02 per cent. It must be noted that the country’s gold bar imports during August last year were INR 5,978.59 crores (USD 1,057.03 million). According to GJEPC, the cumulative gold bar imports by the country during the first five-month period of the fiscal has declined by 54.46 per cent this year. The country’s gold bar imports during the period from April to August this year totaled INR 12,107.51 crores (USD 2,118.14 million).During the same five-month period last year, the country had imported gold bars worth INR 27,022.86 crores (USD 4,954.71 million).