Letter to BS: Measures needed to make gold deposit schemes popular

Measures like starting facilities for refining and certification of standards, building public trust in such schemes and incentives with institutions and individuals are necessary

This refers to the report “RBI joins peers to buy gold insurance” (June 17). While it is comforting to note that the RBI is augmenting the gold component in India’s foreign exchange reserves, efforts to account and mainstream the country’s domestic gold stock are not moving fast. This should be done urgently as the measure will bring down the need to import gold which is a drain on our precious forex reserves.

According to media reports, recently the Guruvayur temple in Kerala decided to deposit 350 kg out of its gold stock with the State Bank of India; this deposit will