Gold bond issue price fixed at Rs 5,000 per gm of gold

The issue price for the next series of sovereign gold bonds has been fixed at Rs 5,000 per gram of gold, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement on Thursday.

The Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2020-21 - Series IX will be open for subscription from December 28, 2020 to January 1, 2021.

"The nominal value of the bond...works out to Rs 5,000 per gram of gold," the RBI said.

The value of the bond is based on the simple average closing price (published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd) for gold of 999 purity of the last three business days of the week preceding the subscription period, that is, December 22-24.

RBI further said the government, in consultation with the central bank, has decided to offer a discount of Rs 50 per gram on the nominal value to investors applying online and making the payment against the application through digital mode.

"For such investors, the issue price of gold bond will be Rs 4,950 gram of gold," RBI said.

The issue price for Series VIII of gold bonds, that was open for subscription from November 9 to 13, 2020, was Rs 5,177 per gram of gold.

Sovereign Gold Bond 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 its tenor is eight years with exit option after fifth year to be exercised on 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 individuals and HUFs, and 20 kg for trusts and similar entities per fiscal (April-March).

The gold bonds 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 domestic savings -- used for purchase of gold -- into financial savings.

As per RBI's Annual Report 2019-20, a total of Rs 9,652.78 crore (30.98 tonnes) has been raised through the sovereign gold bond scheme (37 tranches) since its inception in November 2015.

The RBI issued 10 tranches of sovereign gold bonds for an aggregate amount of Rs 2,316.37 crore (6.13 tonnes) during 2019-20.