Gold saving scheme yet to shine

The Central government decided to make the public invest in gold bonds rather than in gold itself and announced a scheme in the last budget. In this regard the Reserve Bank of India released gold bond price for single gram on November 3. The Prime Minister released three types of gold investment schemes on November 5. Under this scheme, investors have to approach banks and post offices in person to fill application forms and pay money in cash or through cheque or DD. Online payments are also facilitated.

Each individual can buy up to 500 gm of gold bonds starting from 2-gm gold bonds. For each gm of gold, the Central government has fixed Rs. 2,684. The RBI will allocate gold bonds according to each person’s investment. There will be an interest payment of 2.75% annually for the investment. Money investment cannot be withdrawn for five years from the date of investment. Post-fifth year on any date investor can get back the money along with accrued interest after returning the bond. It is announced that across TN 94 HPO’s (Head Post Office) and 20 HPO’s in Chennai zone can be approached.

At Chennai Anna Salai HPO, the officials started distributing the gold saving scheme bond applications since November 4 itself. Till date, only 12 applications have been sold. According to officials in PO saving banks, this scheme is announced in a hurry. Public are not aware of the scheme. No advertisements have reached them properly. Therefore lack of response prevails among them. Moreover public mood is inclined towards celebrating Deepavali. People show interest in buying clothes and jewels alone.