Sovereign gold bonds sales fetch Rs 25,702 crore till March end

A total of Rs 25,702 crore has been raised through the Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) Scheme since its inception till end-March, according to the RBI annual report released on Thursday.

The scheme was launched in November 2015 with an objective to reduce the demand for physical gold and shift a part of the domestic savings -- used for the purchase of gold -- into financial savings.

In 2020-21, RBI issued twelve tranches of bonds for an aggregate amount of Rs 16,049 crore (32.35 tonnes).

"A total of Rs 25,702 crore (63.32 tonnes) has been raised through the scheme since its inception in November 2015," the annual report said.

In the current fiscal, the government has decided to issue the bonds in six tranches from May 2021 to September 2021. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issues the bonds on behalf of the Union government.

The subscription for the second tranche of scheme ends on Friday. The third tranche or 2021-22 Series III will open for subscription from May 31 June 4.

The first tranche was open for subscription from May 17-21.

Price of the bonds are fixed in Indian Rupees on the basis of simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity, published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd for the last three working days of the week preceding the subscription period.

The bonds are denominated in multiples of gram (s) of gold with a basic unit of 1 gram. The tenor of the bond is eight years with an exit option after the fifth year to be exercised on the next interest payment dates.

Meanwhile, RBI has announced the price for early redemption of bonds that were issued under the first tranche in 2015.

"... the redemption price for the early redemption due on May 30, 2021 shall be Rs 4,837 per unit of SGB and payable on May 29, 2021," it said in a statement on Thursday.