Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme opens on August 31; issue price at Rs 5,117/gm

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Mumbai: The issue price for the sixth tranche of the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme has been fixed at Rs 5,117 per gram, the RBI said in a statement on Friday. The Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2020-21 series VI will open for subscription on August 31, 2020, and close on September 4, 2020.

The issue price for the bonds (series V), which were open for subscription from August 3 to August 7, was Rs 5,334 per gram of gold. "The nominal value of the bond based on the simple average closing price for gold of 999 purity of the last three business days of the week preceding the subscription period, i.e. August 26, August 28, 2020, works out to Rs 5,117 per gram of gold," the Reserve Bank said.

It further said the government, in consultation with the RBI, has decided to offer a discount of Rs 50 per gram less than the nominal value to those investors applying online and the payment against the application is made through digital mode.  "For such investors, the issue price of gold bond will be Rs 5,067 per gram of gold," the central bank said.

Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2020-21 is issued by the Reserve Bank India on behalf of the Government of India. The bonds are denominated in multiples of gram(s) of gold with a basic unit of 1 gram and the tenor of the SGB will be eight years with exit option after fifth year to be exercised on the interest payment dates.

The bonds are restricted for sale to resident individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), Trusts, Universities and Charitable Institutions.

The minimum permissible investment will be 1 gram of gold and the maximum limit of subscription shall be 4 kg for individual, 4 kg for HUF and 20 kg for trusts and similar entities per fiscal (April-March).

The gold bond will be sold through banks (except small finance banks and payment banks), Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL), designated post offices, and recognised stock exchanges (NSE and BSE).

The sovereign gold bond 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.

As per the RBI Annual Report 2019-20, a total of Rs 9,652.78 crore (30.98 tonnes) has been raised through the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme (37 tranches) since its inception in November 2015.

The RBI issued 10 tranches of Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) for an aggregate amount of Rs 2,316.37 crore (6.13 tonnes) during 2019-20.