Govt to issue fifth tranche of gold bonds this September

Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday that the Government of India will now issue the fifth tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds in September.

Applications for the bonds will be accepted from September 1- 9. The Bonds will be issued on September 23, 2016, the Ministry said in a statement.

The bonds will be sold through banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL), designated post offices and recognised stock exchanges viz., National Stock Exchange of India Limited and Bombay Stock Exchange with a minimum permissible investment of 1 gram.

The maximum amount subscribed by an entity will not be more than 500 grams per person per fiscal year (April-March). A self-declaration to this effect will be obtained, the Ministry said in a statement.

The bonds will be restricted for sale to resident Indian entities and individuals only and will be denominated in multiples of gram(s) of gold with a basic unit of 1 gram.

It will be for a period of 8 years with exit option that can be exercised from the fifth year on the interest payment dates.

The other features of the bond are similar to the features of the other gold bond tranches that Zee Business has covered in earlier stories – ‘Govt to start fourth tranche of Gold Bonds scheme on July 18.’

The encouraging response of investors to SGB scheme was what prompted the government to come up with more tranches in 2016-17, an earlier release by the Ministry stated.

Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley had announced in his Union Budget Speech of 2015-16 about developing a financial asset, Sovereign Gold Bond, as an alternative to purchasing the metal gold, the Ministry said in a statement.

The SGB scheme was launched as an alternative to physical gold in November 2015 at an issue price of Rs 3,119 crore per gram of gold.

The fourth tranche of amassed the highest wealth so far of Rs 919 crore from investors.