Government opens new series of sovereign gold bonds scheme for subscription

Union Government has opened new series of sovereign gold bonds scheme for subscription. Under this scheme, sovereign gold bonds will be issued every month from October 2018 to February 2019. This bond will be sold through Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited, Post Office, Stock Exchange (NSE and BSE).

Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) Scheme

It is aimed at providing alternative to buying physical gold. Under it, bonds are denominated in units of one gram of gold and multiples thereof. These gold denominated bonds are restricted for sale to resident Indian entities, including individuals, Hindu undivided families (HUF), trusts, universities and charitable institutions.
The minimum subscription for individual and HUF is 1 gram and maximum is 4 kg. For trusts and similar entities, maximum subscription is 20 kg per fiscal. Price of bond is fixed in rupees on basis of simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity published by India Bullion and Jewellers Association Limited for last 3 working days of week preceding the subscription period.
The tenor of SGB bonds is 8 years with provision of premature cancellation after 5 years on interest payment dates. Investors in SGB bonds have been provided with option of holding them in physical or dematerialised form.  RBI has notified rate of interest of 2.50% per annum on SGB bonds is payable on half yearly basis.
The bonds can be used as collateral for loans and loan-to-value ratio is set equal to ordinary gold loan mandated by RBI from time to time. Individual investing in it are exempted from capital gains tax arising on redemption of SGB. The indexation benefits are also provided to long-term capital gains arising to any person on transfer of bond.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2018