Prime Minister Narendra Modi has on today launched three schemes under a gold monetisation scheme, gold sovereign bond scheme, gold coin and gold bullion scheme. It is aimed for luring tonnes of gold from households into the banking system. Modi has also unveiled the first ever national gold coin minted in India with the national emblem of Ashok Chakra engraved on it. The Gold Monetisation Scheme will replace the existing Gold Deposit Scheme, of 1999. The gold bonds will be denominated in multiples of gram(s) of gold with a basic unit of one gram while the minimum investment limit is two grams. The maximum subscription is 500 grams per person per fiscal.
The prime minister has said that gold can be a great tool for women empowerment and that they would be the biggest beneficiaries of the new schemes. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said that gold entering the banking system will help to boost growth. He said that the interest earned on the gold monetisation scheme will be exempt from income, wealth and capital gains tax.
The new scheme asks for the minimum deposit at any one time shall be in raw gold (bars, coins, jewellery excluding stones and other metals) equivalent to 30 grams of gold of 995 fineness. There is no maximum limit for deposit under the scheme. The gold will be accepted at the collection and purity testing centres (CPTC) certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and notified by the central government. Banks will issue deposit certificates in the equivalence of gold being deposited with them.
Banks will accept the gold deposits under the short term (1-3 years) Bank Deposit (STBD) as well as medium (5-7 years) and long (12-15 years) term government deposit schemes
The RBI has notified an interest rate of 2.25 percent for medium term deposits and 2.5 percent for the long-term deposits.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue these bonds on behalf of the central government. The central bank has fixed the issue price for the first tranche of sovereign gold bond at Rs 2,684 per gram of gold based on simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity of the previous week published by the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd.
By Premji
