Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India has surpassed China as the world’s largest gold consumer, buying 562 tonnes of yellow metal so far this year, against China’s 548 tonnes. Photo: PTI
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched three schemes to monetize gold holdings in the country and reduce India’s import bill.
Modi on Thursday launched India’s first national gold coin ahead of the festive season along with the gold monetization scheme and the sovereign gold bond scheme.
While the gold monetization scheme will enable households to deposit their gold with banks and earn interest of up to 2.5% on it, the sovereign gold bond scheme will help subscribers earn interest up to 2.75% without actually holding gold in its physical form.
The 24-karat national gold coin has an emblem of the Ashoka Chakra engraved on one side and of Mahatma Gandhi on the other.
Speaking at the launch ahead of Dhanteras (two days before Diwali), Modi said these schemes should enable India to utilize 20,000 tonnes of gold lying idle in India and channelize it into productive investments. Many people buy gold and cutlery on Dhanteras.
“India has surpassed China as the largest importer of gold this year buying 562 tonnes of the yellow metal so far as against 548 tonnes China has bought,” he said. Modi encouraged people to participate in these schemes in large numbers to usher India into its “golden period”.
“Can we have an online monitoring system to see how much money we get from households each month and how much are our imports coming down by?” he asked. India imports around 1,000 tonnes of gold every year, resulting in large-scale foreign exchange outflows.
Gold is the savings vehicle of choice for many households and it is essential to tap the institutional market by giving savers an option to hold these savings within the formal financial system transparently, according to Somasundaram P.R., managing director, World Gold Council India, an industry lobby.
“These schemes will be transformative for the Indian gold industry. However, the expectations from the schemes in the short term must be tempered as it will take time to build the infrastructure and products and for customer acceptance to grow,” he said.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched three schemes to monetize gold holdings in the country and reduce India’s import bill.
Modi on Thursday launched India’s first national gold coin ahead of the festive season along with the gold monetization scheme and the sovereign gold bond scheme.
While the gold monetization scheme will enable households to deposit their gold with banks and earn interest of up to 2.5% on it, the sovereign gold bond scheme will help subscribers earn interest up to 2.75% without actually holding gold in its physical form.
The 24-karat national gold coin has an emblem of the Ashoka Chakra engraved on one side and of Mahatma Gandhi on the other.
Speaking at the launch ahead of Dhanteras (two days before Diwali), Modi said these schemes should enable India to utilize 20,000 tonnes of gold lying idle in India and channelize it into productive investments. Many people buy gold and cutlery on Dhanteras.
“India has surpassed China as the largest importer of gold this year buying 562 tonnes of the yellow metal so far as against 548 tonnes China has bought,” he said. Modi encouraged people to participate in these schemes in large numbers to usher India into its “golden period”.
“Can we have an online monitoring system to see how much money we get from households each month and how much are our imports coming down by?” he asked. India imports around 1,000 tonnes of gold every year, resulting in large-scale foreign exchange outflows.
Gold is the savings vehicle of choice for many households and it is essential to tap the institutional market by giving savers an option to hold these savings within the formal financial system transparently, according to Somasundaram P.R., managing director, World Gold Council India, an industry lobby.
“These schemes will be transformative for the Indian gold industry. However, the expectations from the schemes in the short term must be tempered as it will take time to build the infrastructure and products and for customer acceptance to grow,” he said.
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