THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The gold price showed a big surge in the state on Saturday. There has been an increase of Rs 600 for one sovereign of gold. With the new price range, one sovereign gold now costs Rs 55,680. This is the highest rate of this month.

Today, the price of one gram of 22-carat gold is Rs 6,886 and the price of one gram of 24-carat gold is Rs 7,512. The price of gold in the state is determined, based on the international price of gold, dollar-rupee exchange rate and import duty.

At the same time, an increase was also recorded in the silver prices in the state. Today's price of one gram of silver is Rs 97.60. The last day's price of one gram of silver was Rs 97.50. Today's price of one kilogram of silver is Rs 97,600.

There has also been a huge increase in the import of gold to India in August after the excise duty was significantly reduced in the central budget. India's gold imports rose by 221.41 per cent to $1,006 crore in August, mostly due to the high demand for gold during the festive season.

During the same period last year, gold worth 490 crores reached India. In this year's Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reduced the import duty on gold from 15 per cent to 6 per cent. Due to this, the smuggling has decreased and the trend of importing gold through official channels increased. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said increased consumption during the festive period and relaxation in duty helped the imports.