The Center reduces gold imports by $5 billion and volume to 117 tonnes in November.

Early data, released in December, indicated that gold imports had doubled from the previous month and increased fourfold year over year.

On Wednesday, the Center cut the numbers for gold imports in November, which were a major factor in the $37.8 billion record trade deficit for the month.

The amount was lowered from 170 tons to 117 tonnes in volume terms and by $5 billion to $9.84 billion.

Concerns regarding the reliability and openness of the country's economic data have been rekindled by the action.

The largest adjustment ever made for a single commodity in India's history is the one that was put together by the Directorate-General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS).

The first numbers, released in December, indicated that gold imports had doubled from the previous month and increased fourfold year over year.

Officials have blamed double counting connected to SEZ transactions for the earlier inflation in gold imports.

Due to a July switch from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) to the Indian Customs Electronic Gateway (ICEGATE) for dealers' e-filing, gold entering and leaving SEZs was apparently recorded twice.

"The way shipping bills are marked under the new system is the root of this problem. To resolve the matter and stop it from happening again, a reconciliation process between the DGCIS and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is currently in progress, according to a senior commerce ministry official.

Clarity is crucial, according to Ajay Srivastava, co-founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).

"The government must clarify whether the revision resulted from discrepancies found during verification or from a mistake in data compilation in the interest of transparency."