NEW DELHI - India's gold imports in May plunged 99% from a year earlier as international air travel was banned and jewellery shops were closed amid a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, a government source said on Tuesday.

The world's second-biggest consumer of the precious metal imported around 1.4 tonnes of gold in May, down from 133.6 tonnes a year ago, said the source, who declined to be identified because they are not authorised to speak to the media.

In value terms, May imports dropped to $76.31 million from to $4.78 billion a year ago, he added.

(Reporting by Aftab Ahmed and Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) ((rajendra.jadhav@thomsonreuters.com; +91-22-68414378 ; Reuters Messaging: rajendra.jadhav.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))