FinMin to discuss slow start of gold monetisation scheme

Taking note of the tardy progress of the gold monetisation scheme, the finance ministry has called a meeting of all stake-holders on Thursday in New Delhi.

Around 40 hallmarking centres, certified as collection and purity testing centres (CPTC), are active but enquiries about the scheme have not been picking up, even after a fortnight of the launch of the scheme.

Banks are reportedly getting some enquiries, but they have yet not started promoting the scheme in a big way as they are still waiting for certain issues to be clarified by the Reserve Bank of India or the government.

The meeting on Thursday will be attended by the representatives of banks, hallmarking centres and gold refineries as well as from the  Bureau of Indian Standards.

Earlier, the finance ministry had said the scheme would be launched with at least 100 active centres. To educate hallmarking centres to get themselves certified, BIS officials are holding roadshows in all state capitals. On Tuesday, a meeting of hallmarking centres of Karnataka was held. There are around 350 such centres in India, of which only 40 are certified. In south India, there are 150 centres, among which only eight are certified to act as CPTC centres for gold monetisation. These include six in Kerala and one in Karnataka.