Now, Swarna Bharat campaign by central government

It will now be Swarna Bharat (Golden India) after Swachh Bharat (Clean India) and other campaigns launched recently by the central government.

"A Golden Opportunity," claimed a half page advertisement in leading newspapers on Wednesday.

The golden opportunity claimed in the advertisement refers to the four gold related schemes - Gold Monetisation Scheme, Gold Sovereign Bond Scheme, Gold Coin Scheme and Gold Bullion Scheme - to be launched on Thursday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Urging the people to activate their stock of yellow metal in generating interest income by opting for the gold monetisation scheme, the union finance ministry added that the gold would also be secure.

The government also announced a national toll free number (1800 1800 000) and webpage www.finmin.nic.in/swarnabharat to give details about the schemes.

The gold monetisation scheme will replace the existing Gold Deposit Scheme, 1999 while the existing deposits will be allowed to run till maturity or premature withdrawal by depositors.

The minimum deposit at any one time shall be 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.

As per 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.

The deposit certificates will be issued by banks in equivalence of 995 fineness of gold. The principal and interest of the deposit under the scheme will be denominated in gold.

The designated banks will accept 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.

While the former will be accepted by banks on their own account, the latter will be on behalf of the government.

There will be provision for premature withdrawal subject to a minimum lock-in period and penalty to be determined by individual banks.

Interest on deposits under the scheme will start accruing from the date of conversion of gold deposited into tradable gold bars after refinement or 30 days after the receipt of gold at the CPTC or the bank's designated branch, as the case may be and whichever is earlier.

The central government promotes the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme under the tag line 'Invest Wisely, Earn Safely'.

Under the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme, the Reserve Bank of India will issue the bonds on behalf of the central government.

The RBI 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 (October 26-30, 2015) published by the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd.

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 (April-March) and for joint holders, the limit will be applied on the first holder.

As per the scheme, the gold bonds will be sold only to resident Indian entities including individuals, Hindu undivided families, trusts, universities and charitable institutions.

As per the scheme, the bond tenure will be eight years with exit option beginning the fifth year onwards. The bonds will also be tradable in the bourses.

The rate of interest will be 2.75 percent per annum payable semi-annually on the initial value of investment.

Bonds can be used as collateral for loans. The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is to be set equal to ordinary gold loan mandated by the Reserve Bank from time to time.

On the other hand, the tag line for the Gold Coin Scheme is "Indian Gold Coin. Minted in India with the values that make India".

The two other gold monetisation schemes to be launched by Modi are the Gold Coin and Gold Bullion schemes.

The Gold Coin and Gold Bullion Schemes are part of gold monetisation programme.

The coin will be the first ever national gold coin and will have the national emblem (Ashok Chakra) engraved on one side.

Initially the coins will be available in denominations of 5 and 10 grams. A 20 gram bar/bullion will also be available.

Initially, 15,000 coins of 5gm, 20,000 coins of 10 gm and 3,750 bullion bars will be made available through MMTC outlets.