Surat: Amid a rally in gold and silver prices, a unaccounted trade of silver bullion and articles on a massive scale was unearthed by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence in the city. Over Rs 600 crore of silver was traded in cash over the last three years, the investigation revealed. Interestingly, his large volume of trade was done from a 200 square foot shop in Choksi Bazaar at Bhagal, a densely populated marketplace of the walled city.
DGGI unearthed alleged GST evasion amounting to Rs 18 crore and arrested the bullion trader, Yatin Shah, on Monday. On being produced in court, Shah was sent to judicial custody. The chain of trade in jewellery created by the cash transactions for bullion is yet to be investigated.
The shop, from images displayed outside, claimed to sell silver articles, and it is suspected that a large number of buyers, attracted towards silver due to rising prices, bought articles in cash.
Following specific inputs, DGGI, Surat zone, carried out searches at the business premises of Sumati Silver and the residence of its owner, Shah, in October 2025. During the search, incriminating documents, including parallel (kachha) challan books and related records evidencing clandestine supply of silver bullion and silver articles without issuance of tax invoices, were seized.
Scrutiny of the seized records revealed that the firm allegedly made unaccounted taxable supplies valued at more than Rs 600 crore during the last three years, resulting in GST evasion of approximately Rs 18 crore.
The thorough examination of the books recovered from the trader revealed that a huge quantity of silver bullion and articles was sold without proper billing or paying taxes on it. A sizeable quantity of bullion was bought by entities working for top jewellers in the city. It is suspected the investigation continued for over four months due to involved in the tax evasion racket not cooperating.
Precious metal attracts 3% GST, and the trade of bullion in cash creates a sequence of tax evasion at multiple levels, from jewellery manufacturing to retail. Due to the high value of the metal, the value of tax evasion is also high.
Yagnesh Mehta is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Times of Indi...
Read MoreYagnesh Mehta is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Times of India, based in Surat, where he primarily covers business, civic affairs and politics. With an experience spanning more than two decades, he has reported extensively on migration, rural and tribal life, crime and the courts. He is passionate about data-driven journalism, particularly in analysing trends in the global diamond trade.
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