What is the difference between 22K and 24K gold?

24K is 99.9% pure gold, used for coins and investment. 22K is 91.6% pure (the 916 hallmark), the standard for Indian jewellery. The remaining 8.4% in 22K is alloy metals added for strength.

How are making charges calculated on gold?

Making charges can be calculated as a percentage of gold value (typically 8-25%) or as a flat rate per gram (₹400-800/gram). Plain pieces have lower charges; intricate designs have higher ones.

What does 916 hallmark mean on gold?

The 916 hallmark is the official BIS stamp showing the gold is 91.6% pure, which equals 22 karats. It's the standard purity mark for Indian jewellery.

Calculate Gold Price
with confidence

Q: What is GST on gold in India?

GST on gold in India is 3%, split equally as 1.5% CGST + 1.5% SGST for transactions within the same state. For inter-state purchases, it's 3% IGST instead. GST is calculated on the total invoice value including making charges.

◆

Live gold rates, manual price option, making charges, and GST — all in one clean calculator. Built for Indian shoppers, jewellers, and investors.

Today's Gold Rates Live

Updated: 30 Apr 2026, 05:13 AM

24K

₹15,066.00

/ gram

22K

₹13,810.00

/ gram

21K

₹13,182.75

/ gram

18K

₹11,299.00

/ gram

14K

₹8,783.48

/ gram

10K

₹6,282.52

/ gram

Calculate

Enter details below

Price Source

Select Karat

Your Price (per gram)

₹ /gram

Weight

grams

Weight Unit

Making Charges (optional)

Tax

Include GST (3%) CGST 1.5% + SGST 1.5% on gold

Total Price

Detailed breakdown

◇

Enter weight and details
to see your gold price

📡

Live Rate

Fetched from a trusted gold price API and updated every 30 minutes. Use this when you want current market value for buying or comparing prices.

✏️

Manual Price

Enter the exact rate quoted by your jeweller to verify their bill, or use historical rates to value your old gold for resale or insurance.

⚖️

Making Charges

Jewellers charge for craftsmanship — either as a percentage of gold value (typical for plain jewellery) or flat per gram (typical for heavier ornaments).

🧾

GST on Gold

India levies 3% GST on gold and gold jewellery — split equally as 1.5% CGST + 1.5% SGST. Toggle this on to include it in your final amount.

Complete Guide

Gold Calculator India: How to Check Real Gold Prices Before You Buy

Buying gold in India is rarely just about the metal. By the time the bill is printed, you've also paid for making charges, sometimes wastage, hallmarking, and 3% GST. A simple ₹70,000 chain can quietly become ₹82,000 — and most buyers can't break that number down on the spot.

A gold calculator fixes that. You enter the weight, pick the karat, and see exactly where every rupee goes. This guide explains how to use one properly, what each charge actually means, and how to spot when a jeweller is overcharging you.

What a Gold Calculator Actually Does

A gold calculator multiplies four things: weight in grams, the per-gram rate for your chosen karat, making charges, and GST. The output is the final price you should pay.

The formula looks like this:

(Weight × Per-gram rate) + Making charges + 3% GST = Final price

That's the whole math. The reason calculators are useful isn't that the math is hard — it's that jewellers rarely write the breakdown on a single page, and the components are easy to fudge.

A good calculator gives you two things a shop receipt won't: the live wholesale rate to compare against, and a clean line-by-line breakdown so nothing is buried.

Live Rate vs Manual Rate: When to Use Each

Most calculators today pull live gold prices from an API and update every few minutes. This is the rate you want when you're buying fresh — it's what wholesalers and bullion dealers reference, and it's the closest thing to a fair benchmark.

Manual rate entry matters in three situations:

Verifying a jeweller's quote. Your jeweller says today's 22K rate is ₹9,200 per gram. Live calculators show ₹9,022. That ₹178 difference, multiplied across 30 grams, is over ₹5,000. You now have a number to negotiate with.

Valuing old gold. If you bought a chain in 2018 and want to know what it's worth today for resale or insurance, you punch in today's rate manually if you already know it.

Comparing two shops. Shop A quotes ₹9,150. Shop B quotes ₹9,080. Plug in both, run the same weight and making charges, and see which one actually saves you money.

The point of the manual option is independence. You don't have to trust the calculator's data source if you have a number you trust more.

Understanding Karat: Why 22K Costs Less Than 24K

Karat is a measure of purity. 24K is 99.9% pure gold. 22K is 91.6% pure — the rest is alloy metals (usually copper and silver) added for strength, because pure gold is too soft for daily-wear jewellery.

Here's how the major karats compare:

24K — investment gold, coins, biscuits, gold bars. Soft, bright yellow. You won't find rings made of 24K because it bends.
22K — the standard for Indian jewellery. Hallmarked as "916" (because 91.6% pure). Almost every gold chain, bangle, and necklace sold in India is 22K.
21K — common in Middle Eastern jewellery, less common in India.
18K — 75% pure. Used for diamond and stone jewellery because it's harder and holds settings better.
14K and 10K — light, durable, cheap. Common abroad but rare in Indian retail.

Since price tracks purity directly, you can calculate any karat from the 24K rate using simple multiplication:

Karat	Multiplier	If 24K = ₹9,850/g
22K	× 0.916	₹9,022.60
21K	× 0.875	₹8,618.75
18K	× 0.750	₹7,387.50
14K	× 0.583	₹5,742.55
10K	× 0.417	₹4,107.45

Most Indian gold APIs return 24K, 22K, and 18K directly. Calculators fill in the gaps for the others using this formula.

Making Charges: The Number Jewellers Don't Want You to Compare

Making charges are the labour cost for craftsmanship. They're also where most of the markup hides.

Two formats are common:

Percentage — usually 8% to 25% of the gold value. Plain bangles and chains sit at the lower end. Intricate temple jewellery and antique designs hit the high end. Anything above 20% needs a real reason.

Flat per gram — common at established chains like Tanishq and Malabar. You pay ₹400 to ₹800 per gram regardless of design complexity. This is usually cheaper than percentage-based for simple, heavy pieces.

A worked example. A 20-gram 22K chain at ₹9,022 per gram is worth ₹1,80,440 in pure gold value. At 12% making, you add ₹21,653. At ₹500 per gram flat, you add only ₹10,000. Same chain, ₹11,653 difference. This is why a calculator that lets you switch between percentage and flat is worth more than the prettiest interface.

A few jewellers also tack on wastage — typically 2% to 5% — claiming gold is lost during crafting. This is mostly historical and worth pushing back on. Modern manufacturing has near-zero wastage. If wastage is on your bill, ask why.

GST on Gold: How the 3% Works

India levies 3% GST on all gold and gold jewellery. The split is:

CGST: 1.5% (Central GST)
SGST: 1.5% (State GST)

Both are charged on the total bill — gold value plus making charges — not just the gold. So if your gold value is ₹1,80,440 and making is ₹21,653, GST is calculated on ₹2,02,093, not ₹1,80,440.

This catches people. They mentally calculate GST on the gold portion only and end up under-budgeting. A good calculator shows the GST line clearly so the surprise doesn't happen at the till.

For inter-state purchases (rare in retail jewellery), the same 3% applies but as IGST instead of CGST + SGST. The total is identical.

Indian Weight Units: Tola, Sovereign, and Why They Still Matter

Most jewellers in India work in grams, but two older units survive:

1 tola = 11.6638 grams. Mostly used in North India and by older buyers. Sovereign coins are sold by tola.
1 pavan (sovereign) = 8 grams. Standard in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, especially for wedding gold.
1 ratti = 0.182 grams. Mostly for gemstones, but occasionally used for very small gold weights.

Calculators worth using let you switch between these units instead of forcing everything into grams. If your grandmother quotes you a price "per tola," you don't want to do mental arithmetic in front of the jeweller.

How to Use a Gold Calculator Before Buying

A practical checklist:

Check today's wholesale rate. Live rate panels at the top of most calculators show this. Note the 22K (or whichever karat you want) per-gram price.
Weigh the piece. Or trust the jeweller's weight if it's hallmarked — but ideally watch them weigh it. BIS-certified shops have transparent scales.
Enter weight, karat, making charges, and toggle GST on. The calculator should show you the same line items you'll see on the bill: gold value, making, subtotal, GST, total.
Compare to the jeweller's bill. If your number is more than 1-2% off, ask for a breakdown of theirs. Discrepancies usually come from inflated making charges or undisclosed wastage.

For old gold being sold or exchanged, the math runs in reverse. Your jeweller deducts a small "purification loss" (typically 2-3%), then pays you the current rate for the remaining weight. A calculator helps you verify the deduction is reasonable rather than arbitrary.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Forgetting GST in your budget. People walk in with ₹1,80,000 expecting to leave with ₹1,80,000 worth of gold. They leave with ₹1,70,000 worth, plus making and GST. Calculate backwards from your actual budget.

Ignoring the karat on hallmarked jewellery. "Gold-coloured" doesn't mean 22K. Always check the hallmark — the BIS mark, the karat number (916 for 22K, 750 for 18K), the jeweller's mark, and the assay centre's mark.

Treating "discount on making" as a real discount. When a jeweller offers "20% off making charges," they often started with making charges 25% higher than market. The discount is theatre. Use a calculator to see whether the post-discount making charge is actually lower than what you'd pay elsewhere.

Not asking about buyback policy. Buy from a shop that offers buyback at the current rate minus a small percentage, not the purchase rate. Otherwise, when gold prices rise, you can't profit from holding your jewellery.

What to Look for in a Gold Calculator

Not all calculators are equal. The good ones have:

Live API rates updated regularly (every 30 minutes is fine; once a day isn't)
Manual price entry option for cross-checking
All major karats — 24K, 22K, 21K, 18K, 14K, 10K
Multiple weight units — gram, tola, sovereign
Both making charge formats — percentage and flat per gram
Optional GST toggle
Clear line-by-line breakdown rather than just a final number
Indian number formatting (lakhs and crores, not commas every three digits)

If you can't see how the final number was built, the calculator isn't doing its job — it's just a black box.

Final Word

Gold is one of the few large purchases most Indian families still make in person, where the price changes daily and the components aren't standardised. A calculator gives you a second opinion in your pocket. It won't make you a wholesale dealer, but it will stop you from overpaying by 10-15% on a wedding or festival purchase.

The rate is public. The math is simple. The only thing standing between you and a fair price is checking the numbers before you sign the bill.

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything About Gold in India

Common questions on gold prices, calculations, purity, taxes, and buying tips — answered in plain language.

The calculator uses the same math jewellers use: weight × per-gram rate + making charges + 3% GST. Live rates come from international gold APIs and are updated every 30 minutes.

The output is accurate to the rupee. The only difference between this and a jeweller's bill will be their making charges and any wastage they add — both of which you can verify by comparing line by line.

Three reasons:

Wholesale vs retail. APIs show the international wholesale rate. Jewellers add a small margin (₹50-150 per gram) to cover overhead.
Local taxes and import duty. India imports most of its gold, so customs duty (currently 6%) gets baked into local prices.
Hallmarking and certification fees. BIS-certified jewellers add ₹35-45 per piece for hallmarking.

A 1-3% difference between live rate and local rate is normal. Anything beyond 5% is worth questioning.

Use live rate when you're shopping fresh — it's your benchmark for what's fair.

Use manual price when you want to verify a specific quote (e.g., "My jeweller says 22K is ₹9,250 today — let me see what that totals with making and GST"), or when valuing old gold using a historical rate.

24K is 99.9% pure gold. It's soft, bright yellow, and used for coins, bars, and investment-grade pieces. You can't make daily-wear jewellery from 24K because it bends and scratches easily.

22K is 91.6% pure (the "916" hallmark you see). The remaining 8.4% is alloy metals like copper and silver, added for strength. This is the standard for Indian jewellery — chains, bangles, rings, and necklaces are almost always 22K.

For investment, choose 24K. For wearable jewellery, choose 22K.

"916" is the official BIS hallmark stamp showing the gold is 91.6% pure — which equals 22 karats. You'll find it engraved as a tiny mark on the jewellery, usually inside rings or on the clasp of chains.

A genuine BIS hallmark has four marks: the BIS triangle logo, the purity number (916 for 22K, 750 for 18K, 999 for 24K), the assaying centre's mark, and the jeweller's identification mark. If any of these are missing, walk away.

Quick checks anyone can do:

Look for the BIS hallmark. Six-digit alphanumeric HUID code on hallmarked gold (mandatory since 2023).
Magnet test. Real gold isn't magnetic. If it sticks, it's fake or low purity.
Density test. Gold is dense — a 10g piece feels noticeably heavier than the same-size silver or brass piece.
Acid test. Available at any BIS-certified jeweller for ₹50-100. Most reliable home-friendly method.

For valuable pieces, get an XRF (X-ray fluorescence) test at a BIS assay centre — it gives exact purity percentage and costs about ₹500.

18K contains less actual gold — only 75% pure (the rest is alloy metals). Since you're paying for the gold content, 18K costs about 18% less than 22K per gram.

Why use 18K then? It's harder and more durable, which is why it's the standard for diamond jewellery, stone-set rings, and intricate designs that need structural strength. The slight loss in gold value is worth it for pieces that hold gemstones.

GST on gold is 3%, split equally as 1.5% CGST + 1.5% SGST for transactions within the same state. For inter-state purchases, it's 3% IGST instead.

Important: GST is calculated on the total invoice value — gold value plus making charges — not just the gold portion. This is why your final bill is always slightly higher than people expect.

Beyond GST, jewellery also has a 5% GST on making charges in some states (this is sometimes bundled into the 3%, sometimes shown separately on the bill).

Two common methods:

Percentage of gold value: Usually 8-25%. Plain bangles and chains sit at 8-12%. Intricate designs hit 18-25%.
Flat per gram: ₹400-800 per gram, regardless of design. Common at chains like Tanishq and Malabar.

For heavy plain pieces (over 30g), flat rate usually works out cheaper. For light intricate pieces, percentage may be cheaper. Always ask both ways before deciding.

Wastage charge (typically 2-5%) is supposedly the gold "lost" during the crafting process — when the goldsmith melts, cuts, and shapes the metal. It's a legacy practice from when manual goldsmithing actually had real wastage.

Modern manufacturing has near-zero wastage. Major chains like Tanishq don't charge wastage at all. If your jeweller adds wastage, ask why — and try to negotiate it down or out entirely.

No — GST is mandatory on all retail gold purchases in India. Anyone offering "GST-free gold" is selling unaccounted (smuggled or grey market) gold, which is illegal and risky. You won't get a proper bill, can't resell easily, and can face legal trouble.

The only legitimate way to "save" on GST is buying digital gold or Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs), which have different tax structures. SGBs in particular have no GST and offer 2.5% annual interest.

Festival season (Akshaya Tritiya, Dhanteras, Diwali) is when most people buy — but prices often peak then due to demand. Off-season months like June-July typically have softer prices and better making charge discounts.

If you're buying for an event months away, watch the trend. Gold prices rise with rupee depreciation and global instability. Don't try to time the absolute bottom — buy in tranches if you have time.

Often not. When a jeweller offers "20% off making charges," they may have started with making charges 25% above the regular market rate. The "discount" just brings it back to normal.

Use a calculator to verify. Compare the post-discount making charge against what other shops quote without any discount. If it's still high, the discount is theatre.

Real discounts at major brands happen during specific festival sales, often as full waivers ("zero making charges") on specific collections.

You'll typically get the current rate of the karat, minus a small deduction (2-5%) for "purification loss." You don't get back any making charges or GST you paid originally.

So if you bought a 22K chain three years ago for ₹50,000 (including ₹6,000 making + ₹1,500 GST), you only get back the gold value at today's rate. If gold prices have risen 30% since, you'll roughly break even or come out slightly ahead.

Tip: Sell back to the same jeweller who sold to you — they often offer better rates as a customer retention move.

For investment: gold coins or bars. Lower making charges (1-2% vs 12%+ for jewellery), easier to resell, no risk of design becoming outdated.

For wearing: jewellery. Yes, you pay more in making, but you get utility — wedding gifts, daily wear, family heirlooms.

Many Indian families do both: jewellery for occasions, coins for actual wealth-building. Don't confuse the two purposes.

For pure investment purposes — yes, in most cases. SGBs offer:

2.5% annual interest on top of gold price appreciation
No GST at purchase
No storage cost or theft risk
Tax-free capital gains if held until maturity (8 years)

The downsides: 5-year lock-in (with early exit available from year 5), no physical gold to hold, and government issuance happens only in tranches throughout the year.

Digital gold (offered by Paytm, PhonePe, Google Pay) lets you buy gold in tiny amounts (even ₹1 worth), stored in vaults by the provider. You can convert to physical gold later or sell back digitally.

Physical gold is the actual metal — coins, bars, or jewellery — that you hold yourself.

Digital is convenient for small regular investments. Physical is for those who want the metal in hand. Both attract 3% GST. SGBs (mentioned above) are usually a better long-term option than digital gold.

Most financial advisors suggest 5-15% of your portfolio in gold as a hedge against inflation and currency depreciation. The exact percentage depends on your age, risk tolerance, and other holdings.

Older investors approaching retirement often hold more (15-20%) for stability. Younger investors with higher risk appetite may hold less (5-8%) and put more into equities.

Important: this 5-15% should be investment-grade gold (coins, bars, SGBs), not jewellery. Jewellery shouldn't really be counted as investment because of the high making charges that don't come back at resale.

Historically, gold has trended upward over decades but with significant short-term volatility. Drivers include inflation, currency strength (especially the US dollar), geopolitical tensions, and central bank buying.

Don't buy gold expecting quick returns — it's a wealth preservation tool, not a wealth multiplier. Over a 10-year horizon, gold typically beats inflation. Over a 1-2 year horizon, it can swing in either direction.

If you're buying gold for a specific purpose (wedding, gift, milestone), focus on that. If you're investing, diversify and don't put everything in gold.

Calculate Gold Pricewith confidence

Calculate

Total Price

Live Rate

Manual Price

Making Charges

GST on Gold

What a Gold Calculator Actually Does

Live Rate vs Manual Rate: When to Use Each

Understanding Karat: Why 22K Costs Less Than 24K

Making Charges: The Number Jewellers Don't Want You to Compare

GST on Gold: How the 3% Works

Indian Weight Units: Tola, Sovereign, and Why They Still Matter

How to Use a Gold Calculator Before Buying

Common Mistakes to Avoid

What to Look for in a Gold Calculator

Final Word

Calculate Gold Price
with confidence