Why in the News
The National Stock Exchange of India has introduced Electronic Gold Receipts (EGRs) to digitise gold trading and bring greater transparency to India’s gold market.
What are Electronic Gold Receipts (EGRs)
- Digital securities representing ownership of physical gold
- Gold is stored in SEBI accredited vaults
- Similar to holding shares in a demat account
- Each EGR is backed by real physical gold
How EGRs Work
- Physical gold deposited in a vault → converted into EGR units
- Investors can:
- Buy and sell EGRs on exchange
- Convert EGRs back into physical gold
- Example: A 1000 gram gold bar can be converted into EGRs
Key Features
- Backed by physical gold
- Tradeable on stock exchanges
- Stored securely in regulated vaults
- Enables fractional ownership
Role of SEBI
- Securities and Exchange Board of India regulates:
- Vault managers
- Trading framework
- Investor protection
| [2016] Which of the following is/are the purpose/purposes of Government’s ‘Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme’ and ‘Gold Monetization Scheme’?: 1.To bring the idle gold lying with Indian households into the economy. 2.To promote FDI in the gold and jewellery sector. 3.To reduce India’s dependence on gold imports. Select the correct answer using the code given below: [A] 1 only [B] 2 and 3 only [C] 1 and 3 only [D] 1, 2 and 3 |
