The All India Jewellers & Goldsmith Federation has written an urgent letter to the Union Finance Minister flagging an unusual and potentially market-distorting situation in silver futures on MCX, where prices are trading at an extraordinary premium of about ₹40,000, reportedly driven by rumours of a possible import duty hike. AIJGF warned that if any such policy change is indeed under consideration, the sharp price reaction raises serious concerns of leakage of price-sensitive information before any official announcement. It cautioned that this abnormal premium could trigger panic, forced liquidations, and unfair losses for genuine hedgers, jewellers, and MSMEs, while undermining confidence in India’s commodity derivatives market. The federation has sought immediate clarification on whether any duty revision is being considered, a time-bound audit of the information trail for possible leaks, and a detailed examination of MCX trading and position data to identify unusual concentration, coordinated activity, or beneficiaries, urging swift regulatory action to protect market integrity.

All India Jewellers & Goldsmith Federation

Regd. Office: House no. 2974A, 2nd Floor, Sant Nagar, Rani bag New Delhi, India – 110034 I Phone: +9192356 35019 E-mail: aijgf4india@gmail.com I website: www.aijgfindia.com

Corresp. Address : 3381, 1st Floor, D.B. Gupta Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi -110005

Date: 21/01/2026
Ref No.: AIJGF/2026-27/030

National President : Pankaj Arora
Mo.: +91 92356 35019
E-mail: arpankaj25@gmail.com

To,

Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman ji
Hon’ble Union Minister of Finance
Ministry of Finance, Government of India
North Block, New Delhi

Subject: Urgent request for investigation into alleged leak and manipulation in MCX Silver amid import duty hike rumours

Respected Madam,

I am writing to bring to your immediate attention a serious and potentially market-distorting development in the Indian commodities market, specifically in Silver trading on Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX).

Today, Silver is trading at an extraordinary premium of approximately T40,000 on MCX versus the prevailing benchmark/spot-linked parity. This sharp and sudden dislocation is being widely attributed in the market to “rumours” of an impending import duty hike on Silver.

If this rumour is true—or even partially true—it raises a grave concern that price-sensitive policy information may have been leaked before any formal announcement. Such leakage, if it occurred, would be a direct threat to market integrity. The central question is unavoidable: who had advance access to this information; and who profited from it?

Madam, this is not a routine bout of volatility. A premium of this scale, built on unverified policy chatter, has the potential to:

create panic and disorderly trading.

trigger forced liquidations and unfair losses for genuine hedgers, jewellers, and MSME participants,

undermine confidence in India’s commodity derivatives market, and

incentivize a dangerous precedent where “policy rumours” become a tool for profit extraction.

I respectfully request that the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister’s Office initiate an immediate and time-bound investigation into:

Whether any import duty change on Silver is under consideration, and if so, whether any information was leaked prior to official communication.

Trading and position data in MCX Silver during the period leading up to this premium expansion—especially unusually large or concentrated positions.

Linkages between policy information flow and market participants, if any, including intermediaries, brokers, and large traders.

Whether this episode reflects an attempt at market manipulation akin to a “cornering/squeeze” environment, where rumours are used to engineer an artificial premium.

For your kind reference, we had also cautioned SEBI approximately 10 days ago that Silver was showing warning signs and could be heading toward a large-scale manipulation episode. Today’s price action strengthens that concern significantly.

Given the sensitivity and the public interest involved, I urge that SEBI, MCX, and relevant agencies be directed to coordinate swiftly, and that findings be acted upon decisively to protect market fairness and genuine trade/industry participants.

I remain available to share ground-level market inputs and the specific risk markers we have been tracking, should your office require them.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

Yours faithfully,

Pankaj Arora (Delhi)
National President, AIJGF
National Joint Sec. General, CAIT
All India Jewellers and Goldsmith Federation (AllIGF)

Nitin Kedia (Mumbai)
(Mo.: 96190 67885)
National General Secretary, AIJGF