How Goldmitra calculates gold rates

Three inputs go into every refresh:

1. Gold spot price in USD. From GoldAPI.io, a market-data vendor. If it is unavailable or over quota, we automatically fall back to gold-api.com, an unrelated provider, so one vendor outage cannot freeze the rate.
2. USD → INR exchange rate. From ExchangeRate-API, read at the same moment as the gold price.
3. An India premium. Our own estimate, explained below.

We do not scrape jewellers, and the rate is not an IBJA, MCX, or any association quote. It is a transparent estimate built from the public inputs above.

24K price per gram (₹) = spot price per gram (USD) × USD→INR rate × (1 + India premium)

International spot converted straight to rupees sits well below what Indian jewellers actually quote, because it contains no import duty, no IGST, and none of the local bullion-market premium. In September 2026 we compared the raw conversion with several independent Indian rate sources and found a gap of roughly 15%. We close it with one fixed, disclosed figure rather than silently showing a number that looks precise but would never match a shop.

That premium is currently 15%, last reviewed 2026-09-09. It is an estimate, not a live figure: it changes only when we manually review it, which we do when India's import-duty structure changes (for example in a Union Budget) or when the gap against independent sources drifts noticeably.

The rate is refreshed once a day, early in the morning (around 6 am IST), and that same figure is shown until the next refresh. It is not a tick-by-tick live price — the exact time of the last refresh is shown beside the rate.

Gold can move after the daily refresh, so ask your jeweller for the rate they are quoting at the moment you buy or sell.

If a refresh fails, we keep showing the last successful rate with its original timestamp rather than inventing a new one. Once a rate is more than a day and a half old, the page shows an exact date instead of a relative time such as "3 hours ago", so a stale figure is never dressed up as recent.

We price pure (24K) gold once and derive every other purity from it, so the rate board and every calculator on the site always agree. We do not use a vendor's separate per-karat figures.

The rate is the base metal price only. A jeweller's bill adds, separately: making charges, wastage, the cost of any stones, hallmarking fees, and 3% GST. Our calculators apply the 3% GST to gold value plus making charges. Use the jewellery calculator to see those added on top of today's rate.

Goldmitra shows one national base rate. Every city page, for example Mumbai or Chennai, uses the same figure, because the inputs that set it — international spot, the exchange rate, and import duty — are national.

In practice, rates quoted by local jewellers' associations can differ a little from city to city on a given day, driven by local demand, logistics, and how each market sets its daily rate. We do not collect or model those local quotes, so a city page shows the national estimate and local context, not a city-specific market price. If your local quote differs slightly from ours, that is expected. For a longer explanation, read why gold rates differ from city to city.

GST on gold is the same 3% everywhere in India. What varies by location is mostly the making charge, and our research found it varies more by jeweller and design than by state: we use one national range of 6–25% for the typical-range hint in the calculator (last reviewed 2026-09-17). It is a guide, not a quote.

Even on the same day and the same rate, two jewellers can hand you different bills. The usual reasons:

• Making charges. Charged as a percentage of gold value or as a flat amount per gram, and negotiable. Plain chains sit toward the low end; intricate bridal or antique work toward the high end.
• Wastage. Some jewellers list it separately, others fold it into the making charge.
• Stones and other components. Priced separately from the gold.
• Their own rate. A shop quotes the rate it is trading at that moment, which can differ from any website's.
• Buyback and exchange terms. What you get back when you sell depends on their deduction policy, not on the rate alone. See the resale calculator.

• The rate is indicative. It is not a price you can transact at on our site.
• The India premium is a periodic estimate and can lag a sudden change in duty or local market conditions until we review it.
• The rate is a daily snapshot. Gold can move during the day, and we do not show intraday changes.
• Calculator outputs are estimates from the inputs you enter. See our financial disclaimer.

Gold buying and investing affect real money, so we hold articles to a stricter standard than a general blog.

• Named authorship. Every article carries an author, with a profile page showing their background. Where an article has been independently checked, the reviewer is named too, and we show the "Fact checked" badge only when a named reviewer exists.
• Sources. Rates, taxes, duties, and fund data are checked against primary or official sources (government notifications, AMC factsheets, exchange and AMFI data) wherever they exist, not other blogs.
• Updates and corrections. Articles show their last-updated date when they have genuinely been revised. If you spot an error, tell us via the contact form and we will correct it and update the date.
• No financial advice. Investing articles are educational. Consult a licensed financial or tax adviser before you invest.
• Commercial relationships. We earn affiliate commissions on some links. That never changes a calculator's output or a rate. See how we make money.