Sovereign gold bond to open for subscription on May 17

The first tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds 2021-22 will be open for subscription for five days from Monday, the finance ministry said in a statement.

The bonds will be issued in six tranches from May 2021 to September 2021, it said on Wednesday.

The subscription period for 2021-22 Series I will be May 17-21, and bonds will be issued on May 25.

The bonds will be sold through banks (except Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks), Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL), designated post offices, and recognised stock exchanges viz National Stock Exchange of India Limited and Bombay Stock Exchange Limited.

The Reserve Bank of India will issue the bonds on behalf of the Government of India.

The price of the bond will be fixed in Indian Rupees based on the simple average of the closing price of gold of 999 purity, published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Limited for the last 3 working days of the week preceding the subscription period.

The issue price of the Gold Bonds will be Rs 50 per gram less for those who subscribe online and pay through digital mode, the ministry said.

The bonds will be denominated in multiples of gram (s) of gold with a basic unit of 1 gram.

The tenor of the bond will be for 8 years with an exit option after the 5th year to be exercised on the next interest payment dates.

"Minimum permissible investment will be 1 gram of gold," the ministry said.

As per the statement, the maximum limit of subscription will be 4 KG for individual, 4 Kg for HUF and 20 Kg for trusts and similar entities per fiscal (April-March).

It further said know-your-customer (KYC) norms will be the same as that for the purchase of physical gold.

The sovereign gold bond scheme was launched in November 2015 to reduce the demand for physical gold and shift a part of the domestic savings -- used for the purchase of gold -- into financial savings.

Photograph: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters