{"id":21640,"date":"2026-10-12T16:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T15:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/glossary\/carat\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T16:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T15:28:17","slug":"carat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/glossary\/carat\/","title":{"rendered":"Carat or Karat (Gold Purity)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mrf-gl\"><p class=\"gl-def\">A carat (K, also spelt karat) measures gold purity in 24ths: 24 carat is pure gold, 22 carat is 22 parts gold in 24 (91.6%), and 18 carat is 75%. It is not the same as the carat used to weigh diamonds.<\/p><aside class=\"panel gl-live\"><p class=\"gl-live-h\">\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 Today in India<\/p><div class=\"gl-row\"><span>Gold, 1 troy ounce (spot)<\/span><b>399,118 INR<\/b><\/div><p class=\"gl-src\">Data as of 12.10.2026, updated daily.<\/p><a class=\"btn primary\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/cheapest-gold-coins\/\">Compare gold coin prices \u203a<\/a><\/aside><div class=\"gl-body\"><h2>Carat to fineness in India<\/h2><p>To convert a carat number to purity, divide it by 24. In India the BIS hallmark shows both, for example 22K916 or 18K750, so you do not need to do the sum yourself. Bullion is usually described by <a href=\"fineness}}\">fineness<\/a> alone, such as 999.<\/p><table><thead><tr><th>Carat<\/th><th>Gold content<\/th><th>Where you see it<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>24K<\/td><td>99.5% to 99.9% and above<\/td><td>Gold coins and bars (995, 999, 999.9)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>23K<\/td><td>95.8%<\/td><td>Jewellery, one of the mandatory hallmark grades<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>22K<\/td><td>91.6%<\/td><td>Jewellery (22K916) and 22K coins<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>20K<\/td><td>83.3%<\/td><td>Jewellery, one of the mandatory hallmark grades<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>18K<\/td><td>75%<\/td><td>Jewellery, often with stones (18K750)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>14K<\/td><td>58.5%<\/td><td>Jewellery (14K585)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9K<\/td><td>37.5%<\/td><td>A voluntary hallmark grade<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><p>In March 2026 BIS said mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts covers 14, 18, 20, 22, 23 and 24 karat, with 9 karat available as a voluntary grade. Each hallmarked piece also carries a six-character HUID code that you can check in the BIS CARE app.<\/p><h2>Worked example: how much gold is in your jewellery?<\/h2><p>A 20 g chain in 22 carat holds 20 x 0.916 = 18.32 g of gold. The same chain in 18 carat holds 15 g, and in 14 carat 11.7 g. The rest is silver, copper or other metals, which set the colour and make the piece harder. Weigh items without stones, since gems add weight but no gold. The diamond carat is a unit of weight (0.2 g), not purity.<\/p><p>To estimate the metal value, multiply the gold content by the day's rate per gram for pure gold, or use the rate for that purity directly. IBJA publishes daily rates for 916, 750 and 585 as well as 999 and 995. Our <a href=\"\/in\/charts\/gold-price\/gold-price-per-gram\/\">gold price per gram in INR<\/a> shows the pure gold benchmark. A buyer will then deduct a margin, which is a form of <a href=\"spread}}\">bid-ask spread<\/a>.<\/p><h2>Jewellery is not bullion<\/h2><p>Jewellery and coins pay the same 3% GST in India (see <a href=\"investment-gold-tax}}\">GST on gold<\/a>), so tax is not the difference. The difference is what you pay above the metal. Jewellery carries making charges for design and labour, and when you sell, the value that counts is mostly the gold content.<\/p><p>If your goal is to hold gold, 24 carat coins and bars give you more metal per rupee. A 10 g coin at 999 holds 9.99 g of gold; a 10 g 22 carat coin holds 9.16 g. Compare the price per gram of fine gold in our ranking of the <a href=\"\/in\/cheapest-gold-coins\/\">cheapest gold coins in India<\/a>, and see <a href=\"troy-ounce}}\">troy ounce<\/a> for how gram and ounce prices relate.<\/p><\/div><h2>Related terms<\/h2><p class=\"gl-chips\"><a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/glossary\/fineness\/\">Fineness<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/glossary\/troy-ounce\/\">Troy Ounce<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/glossary\/gst-on-gold-india\/\">GST on Gold and Silver in India<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/glossary\/bid-ask-spread\/\">Bid-Ask Spread<\/a><\/p><section class=\"mrf-faq\"><h2>FAQ<\/h2><div class=\"faq-list\"><details open><summary><h3>How much gold is in 22 carat gold?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>22 carat gold is 22 parts in 24, or 91.6% pure gold, marked 22K916 in a BIS hallmark.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details><summary><h3>Which gold carats must be hallmarked in India?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>BIS said in March 2026 that mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts covers 14, 18, 20, 22, 23 and 24 karat, while 9 karat is a voluntary grade.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details><summary><h3>Is 22 carat or 24 carat better for investment?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>For holding metal, 24 carat coins and bars give more gold per gram; both carry the same 3% GST, so compare the price per gram of fine gold.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section><details class=\"gl-src-list\"><summary>Sources<\/summary><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsonair.gov.in\/govt-adds-7-more-districts-in-6th-phase-of-mandatory-gold-hallmarking\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">All India Radio News: Govt adds 7 more districts in 6th phase of mandatory gold hallmarking (March 2026)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bis.gov.in\/hallmarking-overview\/brief-on-hallmarking\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bureau of Indian Standards: Brief on Hallmarking Scheme<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/ibjarates.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA): daily gold and silver rates<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/egazette.gov.in\/WriteReadData\/2025\/266209.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gazette of India: Notification No. 9\/2025-Central Tax (Rate), 17 September 2025, Schedule IV (1.5%)<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/details><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":21632,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_glsr_average":0,"_glsr_ranking":0,"_glsr_reviews":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21640","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/"},"comment_info":0,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21640\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}