India

Sensory-overload bazaars next to polished flagship stores: 48-hour bespoke tailoring, GI-tagged saffron and pashmina, first-flush tea at the estate gate, and Ayurvedic beauty at a third of its export price — if you can dodge the fakes and the touts.

Tax-free / duty-free

None in practice — the Tourist Refund Scheme (Section 15, IGST Act 2017) is legislated but has never been operationalised. It doesn't, as of July 2026. Section 15 of the IGST Act promises refunds of integrated tax on goods carried out by foreign tourists, but no rules, airport counters or processing infrastructure exist; Rule 95A was omitted and the related circulars withdrawn. There is no desk at Delhi, Mumbai or any airport that will refund GST. Any shop promising to 'arrange your GST refund' is a red flag.

What to buy in India

• Bespoke two-piece wool suit (48–72h turnaround) (Mohanlal Sons (Delhi) / Kachins (Mumbai) & peer tailoring houses) — 28000 INR — A canvassed, fitted-to-you suit for the price of an off-the-rack sale suit at home — India's single biggest apparel arbitrage for Western travelers.
• Made-to-measure cotton dress shirts (24–48h) (Independent tailoring houses / Raymond Made-to-Measure) — 2200 INR — ₹2,000-odd buys what US/UK made-to-measure charges $120–150 for — and they'll keep your measurements for future mail orders.
• Prescription eyeglasses, complete pair (frame + single-vision anti-glare lenses) (Lenskart / Titan Eye+) — 2500 INR — A complete prescription pair for ~$28 versus a US average around $350 — even three pairs plus the flight-day errand time is a rout.
• Kumkumadi Youth-Revitalising Facial Oil (15 ml) (Kama Ayurveda) — 1895 INR — The flagship saffron facial oil costs ₹1,895 (~$22) at home versus ~$100+ exported — buy your year's supply where it's made.
• Soundarya Radiance Cream with 24K Gold & SPF25 (50 g) (Forest Essentials) — 4975 INR — India's most polished luxury Ayurveda brand at domestic prices — roughly a third of what the same jar costs once it crosses an ocean.
• Handcrafted sterling silver jewellery, sold by weight (Johari Bazaar silversmiths / Amrapali (Jaipur)) — 3500 INR — Labour is the cost in jewellery, and Indian hand-work is world-class and cheap — intricate sterling pieces price at little over metal value.
• Full-grain leather bag (messenger/weekender) (Hidesign / Nappa Dori) — 8500 INR — Vegetable-tanned full-grain bags made in the same belt that supplies European labels, at a quarter of Western boutique prices.
• GI-tagged Kashmiri Mongra saffron, 1 g (Grade A+++) (Kashmir Online Store / Pampore growers (GI: Kashmir Saffron)) — 1000 INR — The planet's most potent saffron, bought at origin with GI traceability — and a fraction of what 'Kashmiri' saffron sells for abroad, where much of it is fake anyway.
• Genuine hand-woven Kashmir pashmina shawl (GI-certified) (Kashmir Loom / GI-registered weavers & govt emporia) — 18000 INR — The genuine article — hand-spun Changthangi cashmere woven in Srinagar — exists almost nowhere else at this price, but only the GI label separates it from a continent of viscose.
• Darjeeling first flush 'Springtime Bloom' loose leaf, 100 g (Makaibari Tea Estate (est. 1859, biodynamic)) — 775 INR — The 'champagne of teas' from the oldest estate in Darjeeling, at the price importers pay — a suitcase-friendly gift that's genuinely impossible to buy this fresh abroad.
• Cotton hand block printed long kurta (Fabindia / Anokhi) — 1650 INR — Jaipur's GI-protected block printing tradition at maker prices — the same labels sell for 4–5x through Western boutiques.
• Jaipur blue pottery bowl or vase (GI craft) (Neerja International / Kripal Kumbh (Jaipur)) — 900 INR — A 400-year-old Persian-descended Jaipur craft you can buy from the families who revived it, for the price of a museum-shop postcard set abroad.
• Hand-embroidered chikankari cotton kurta (Ada Chikan / SEWA Lucknow (GI: Lucknow Chikan Craft)) — 2500 INR — Museum-grade hand embroidery that takes weeks per garment, purchasable from the artisans' own co-op for less than a fast-fashion blouse costs at home.
• Masala dabba (spice box) filled with whole spices from Khari Baoli (Indian Art Villa (brass/steel) + Khari Baoli spice merchants) — 1200 INR — The definitive functional souvenir: the tool Indian kitchens actually use, filled at the market where the world's spice trade still runs.
• Mysore Sandal Soap, 150 g (100% pure sandalwood oil) (Karnataka Soaps & Detergents Ltd (KSDL), est. 1916 — GI tagged) — 82 INR — A ₹82 icon of Indian manufacturing with real sandalwood oil — the single cheapest 10x-markup souvenir in the country.

Where locals shop

• Khan Market & Dilli Haat, Delhi: Kama Ayurveda/Forest Essentials flagships, Anokhi, Fabindia, plus state-craft stalls (pashmina, blue pottery) at Dilli Haat with vetted artisans
• Connaught Place & Khari Baoli, Delhi: Legacy tailors (Mohanlal Sons, Vaish), Khadi India flagship, and Asia's biggest wholesale spice market for saffron, cardamom and masala dabbas
• Johari Bazaar & Bapu Bazaar, Jaipur: Silver jewellery by weight, gem-set pieces, block-print textiles (Anokhi's home city), blue pottery and leather juttis
• Colaba Causeway & Fort, Mumbai: 48-hour suit tailors (Kachins and peers), leather goods, Bombay Store, street-side bargains
• Chowk & Hazratganj, Lucknow: Hand-embroidered chikankari kurtas and attars from SEWA co-ops and heritage houses like Ada

Customs

• US: Commercially packaged tea, whole spices and saffron are fine — declare all food on your CBP form. Plant seeds, fresh produce and unprocessed plant material are restricted or need permits, so skip seed packets from spice markets. Finished sandalwood soap and attars are fine, but India itself restricts export of raw sandalwood and sandalwood oil, and red sanders is CITES-listed — don't buy raw wood or large carvings. India bans export of antiques over 100 years old, ivory and peacock-feather items. $800 personal exemption applies.
• GB: Packaged tea and spices are allowed into Great Britain; anything plant-based beyond processed food (seeds, fresh plants) may need a phytosanitary certificate. Your personal goods allowance is £390 — a real pashmina plus jewellery can exceed it quickly, so keep receipts and declare. CITES rules apply to sandalwood, shahtoosh (totally illegal — never buy), ivory and some snakeskin/peacock items. Indian antiques over 100 years old cannot legally leave India.