The ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are discussing tightening limits on gold imports by trading houses, two other sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

All three sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Imports are typically strong around the last quarter of the year as consumers rush to buy gold to celebrate major festivals such as Dhanteras and Diwali.

But inbound shipments in the same month last year reached just 23.5 tonne after government introduced a series of restrictions to narrow its fiscal deficit including raising the import duty on gold to a record high and permitting only a few banks to bring in the precious metal.

In May this year, the central bank eased some of those rules by allowing seven more private agencies to ship in gold.

India's appetite for gold jumped by more than a third to 225.1 tonne in the July-Sept quarter, in sharp contrast to the rest of the world, boosted by jewellery demand for the wedding season, an industry body said on Thursday. (KH)