Gold demand in India declined by 26 per cent to 190.3 tonne during the January-March quarter due to higher import duties and supply curbs imposed by the government, the World Gold Council today said.

In the first quarter of 2013, the gold demand in the country had logged in 257.5 tonne, according to WGC Gold Demand Trends report.

In the first quarter of 2014 the demand went down by 26 per cent illustrating the continued impact of higher import duties and supply curbs imposed by the Centre to reduce the Current Account Deficit, says the report.

In value terms, gold demand witnessed a fall of 33 per cent to 48,853 crore rupees during the first quarter of 2014, compared to 73,183.6 crore rupees in the first quarter of 2013.

During this period the total jewellery demand was down 9 per cent at 145.6 tonne compared to 159.5 tonne corresponding period of 2013.