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Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

To hold the significance and benefits of Gold still not own the physical Gold is what is the SGB scheme all about. Questions like what was the need to launch the SGB scheme have a brief answer.

They are introducing several ways of investment for the citizens of India so that they can get benefits from the increasing inflation rates by investing in alternative methods. To understand what is the SGB scheme all about, an explanation has to start from the basics. Several risks involved in holding the physical Gold for the investment purposes were the reason for the SGB scheme, and hence it shows what was the need to launch the SGB scheme by the government for the people of the Country. The sovereign gold bonds scheme helped many sectors of society to have the opportunity of investing in one of the best and guaranteed appreciating assets.

SGB scheme overview

The Reserve Bank of India introduced the SGB scheme for the citizens of the Country. We can understand what the SGB scheme is all about through an overview. Security from any theft in the Country and no extra charges for making and keeping it safe. SGB was a contract-based online alternative for the physical Gold for the people. 

Sovereign gold bonds offer the citizens of the country investments in Gold through a legal document of buying the same amount of Gold at market price when redeeming it according to the market value at that time in the future whenever the bonds get matured. SGB also offered people of the Country to make even the lowest amount possible investment in the Gold without fear of extra making and labour charges and even from any theft.

Need for SGB in the Country for the citizens

There were many factors in the past and present that urged the RBI to take a step like SGB, and they are the prime reason to understand what was the need to launch the SGB scheme in India, where physical Gold was much in practice and popular too. So let us understand some of the highlighting points :

  • Buying Physical Gold from a jeweller creates a sense of fear(even if there is not one) that the purchased Gold is a pure one or just the outer layer is Gold. People also ignored the hallmark sign when buying the Gold to get it at lower prices. SGB changed that thing by providing credibility directly through the RBI Gold reserve with price and documentation of the purest Gold.
  •  Compared to the physical Gold and its jewellery, SGB has a much more affordable buying value, which means the minimum subscription required for SGB was shallow than the jewellery making of physical Gold.
  • Storage expenditure for securing physical Gold was very high, but SGB stores in your Demat account in the form of a legal document, therefore, having zero storage cost.
  • Due to the high cases of theft and robberies of gold jewellery, RBI had another excellent and practical reason to introduce the SGB system in the Country.

Buying potential of SGB

There is a minimum subscription required for SGB in the Country, which became one of the many great reasons to go for SGB in place of physical Gold. Due to the amount of as minimum as 1000(if 1 gram has an equivalent rate) required to buy the SGB, many investors who wanted safe and guaranteed returns bought SGB, and word of mouth for the scheme spread across the Country.

Also, no age barrier in the buying of SGB provided an upper hand in the process to the RBI because the student in the 10th class has extra money and will to invest it; they can buy the SGB with the consent of the Guardian and hence will enjoy the good returns after the maturity period of the bond.

Benefits from the SGB scheme

Some of the most practical benefits that all of the citizens enjoyed are:

  • No issue of minimum subscription required for SGB, so there was no money problem in it.
  • The risk of theft or any other damage or loss was not there because of the legal contract saved in the Demat account.
  •  There is no extra money to be cut off while reselling due to several environmental or damage reasons.
  • Guaranteed returns of 2.5% plus the equivalent value of your SGB at the rate of Gold at that time.

Conclusion

Getting the correct understanding and the value of the SGB scheme is extremely important for the coming generation because of the high guaranteed returns value with no fear of losing or theft of the most important and expensive asset. SGB is an excellent choice for the segment of the people of the country who are not so interested in gold jewellery but still want to buy Gold for its guaranteed returns value and high return rates over the years. SGB has been a transparent way of buying the Gold nowadays, including just capital loss if applicable as per the current rate of the Gold. Now, you know what the SGB scheme is all about.

faq

Frequently asked questions

Get answers to the most common queries related to the UPSC Examination Preparation.

What is the minimum age to apply for the SGB?

Ans : There is no official minimum age to buy the Gold and the SGB in our Country but to buy the SG...Read full

Is there any reason to doubt SGB?

Ans : To diminish the people’s doubt is actually what the SGB scheme is all about...Read full

How to apply to buy the SGB?

Ans : Nowadays, there are many platforms to buy the SGB but keep the process trustful. For example,...Read full

Is KYC necessary to buy the SGB?

Ans : Yes, not just SGB, but to buy or do any online trading or transactions or use online cloud wa...Read full