End Of The Gold Rush

Gold ETF, sovereign gold bonds and digital gold are catching investors’ fancy.

- Aparajita Gupta

Indians’ love affair with gold is eternal, be it to adorn themselves or as an investment tool. However, increasingly it is losing sheen in its physical form as the new generation investors are inclined towards its dematerialised format or paper form. Gold exchange traded funds (ETF) and sovereign gold bonds issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the government and digital gold are fast catching fancy of investors. “The trend is set to get bigger in the next three-five years.

However, ETFs have not done very well in India so far as they do not pay as big returns as the gold bonds,” says Somasundaram PR, MD (India), World Gold Council. Besides, there is a rise in adoption of the digital form of gold. Investors can buy them from apps like PhonePe and Paytm and can also keep it deposited. “These e-KYC compliant investments are completely redeemable. They are not a threat to the physical gold but will complement jewelry buying. Even millennials are catching up with the trend,” he adds. Around 800 kg of gold was transacted via this format in the last one year.

Every ETF is backed by physical gold, but the buyers hold it in dematerialised format, Somasundaram explains. On the other hand, though gold bonds mimic gold prices, it is not backed by physical gold. Total gold consumption in India last year was 760 tonnes. According to World Gold Council, this year’s demand will be between 700 and 800 tonnes.