Government launches second tranche of gold bond scheme

The Indian government has launched the second tranche of bonds under the Gold Bonds scheme on January 18, with subscription open till January 22, as per reports. The Gold Bond scheme was launched last year close to Diwali.

The bonds can be bought through banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL) and assigned post offices. The price of the bonds ahs been kept at Rs 2,600 per gram, currently lower than the present market value of the yellow metal. The bonds would be issued on February 8, with an interest rate of 2.75 percent payable on the initial amount of investment.

The RBI has maintained this second tranche to remain open for the short span of five days, to ensure the rate of the bond is attractive for the people to come forward and subscribe, a learning from the first tranche of the gold bond scheme when market prices of gold dipped below that of the bonds. The first tranche, as per the RBI, recorded a total of 62, 169 applications for 916 kgs of gold or Rs.246 crore worth of deposits, reports say.

To promote the gold bond scheme, the government has also launched a media campaign across radio and print and would soon tap the digital sphere with mobile SMS campaign.