To reduce the country’s reliance on the imports of gold to meet the domestic demand and to reduce the demand for physical gold; Government had launched Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and Gold Monetisation Scheme in November, 2015 and the details of the schemes are available on the websites i.e. http://finmin.nic.in/swarnabharat/index.html & https://rbi.org.in.

Further till 14.11.2016, under the Gold Monetisation Scheme a total of 5730 Kilograms of gold has been mobilized and from the six tranches of Sovereign Gold Bonds issued, a total of 14071 kgs of gold units amounting to ₹ 4127 Crore have been subscribed.

There are no firm statistics with the Government regarding the quantum and value of gold in possession of public and with private gold loan lending companies. However, as per estimate over 20,000 tonnes of gold is held by households, trusts and various institutions in India.

To create the awareness amongst the public, Government launched media campaign on FM radio, Print Media, Mobile SMS and Social Media. Further, based on the feedback received from the stakeholders of the schemes and the reviews held, at the regular intervals necessary changes have been implemented in the schemes.

This was stated by ‘Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme expands non physical avenues for gold holdings, with mobilisation and outreach measures following stakeholder feedback. The Government implemented the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and the Gold Monetisation Scheme to reduce physical gold demand and import dependence; by mid-November 2016 the Gold Monetisation Scheme had mobilised 5,730 kg and Sovereign Gold Bond tranches had subscriptions amounting to 14,071 kg, while household and institutional holdings are estimated over twenty thousand tonnes, and outreach and periodic scheme adjustments were undertaken following stakeholder feedback.