In exercise of the
powers conferred by clause (iii) of section 3 of the Government
Securities Act, 2006 (38 of 2006), the Central Government hereby makes the
following Scheme, namely: (i) This scheme may be called the
Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme. (ii) There will be a distinct Series
for every week which will be indicated on the Bond issued to the investor. (iii) It shall come into force on the
date of its publication in the Official Gazette. In this Scheme, unless the context otherwise
requires: (a) "Form" means a form
appended to this Scheme; (b) "Receiving office"
means the offices or branches of Nationalised Banks, Scheduled Private Banks,
Scheduled Foreign Banks (as specified in Annexure I to this Notification),
designated Post Offices (as specified in Annexure II to this Notification),
Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd. (SHCIL) and the authorised stock
exchanges as specified in Annexure III to this Notification. (c) "Stock Certificate"
means the Gold Bond issued in the form of Government of India Stock in
accordance with section 3 of the Government Securities Act, 2006. The Gold Bonds under this Scheme may be held by a
Trust, HUFs, Charitable Institution, University or by a person resident in
India, being an individual, in his capacity as such individual, or on behalf of
minor child, or jointly with any other individual. Explanation For the purposes of this paragraph: (i) "person" shall have the
same meaning as defined in clause (u) of section 2 of the Foreign
Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999). (ii) the expression "person
resident in India" shall have the same meaning as defined in clause (v) of
section 2 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999). (iii) "Trusts" to mean a
trust constituted/formed as per the Indian Trusts Act, 1882, or a public or
private trust constituted or recognized under the provisions of any Central or
State law for the time being in force and also an express or constructive trust
constituted for either a public religious or charitable purpose or both which
includes a temple, a math, a wakf, a church, a synagogue, anagiary or any other
place of public religious worship, or a dharmada or any other religious or
charitable endowment and also a society, formed either for a religious or
charitable purpose or for both, registered under the Societies Registration
Act, 1860 or under any other law for the time being in force in India. (iv) "Charitable Institution"
to mean a Company registered under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act, 1956
or under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013; or an institution,
which has obtained a Certificate of Registration as a charitable institution in
accordance with a law in force; or Any institution which has obtained a
certificate from an Income Tax Authority for the purposes of
Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. (v) "University" means a
university established or incorporated by a Central, State or Provincial Act,
and includes an institution declared under section 3 of the
University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956), to be a university for the
purposes of the Act. (i) The bonds will be issued in
denominations of one gram of gold or multiples thereof; Provided that the minimum limit of subscription for
the Bonds issued shall be of one gram and maximum limit of subscription per
fiscal year shall be of 4 kg for individuals, 4 kg for Hindu Undivided Family
(HUF) and 20 kg for trusts and similar entities notified by the Government from
time to time; Provided that in case of joint holding, the above
limits shall be applicable to the first applicant only; Provided that the annual ceiling will include bonds
subscribed under different tranches during initial issuance by Government and
those purchased from the secondary market; and: Provided further that the ceiling on investment
will not include the holdings as collateral by banks and other Financial
Institutions. (ii) The nominal value of Gold Bonds
shall be in Indian Rupees fixed on the basis of simple average of closing price
of gold of 999 purity, published by the India Bullion and Jewelers Association
Limited, for the last 3 business days of the week preceding the subscription
period. (iii) The issue price of the Gold Bonds
will be ? 50 per gram less than the nominal value to those
investors applying online and the payment against the application is made
through digital mode. (i) Any person who is desirous of
subscribing to the Gold Bonds shall apply to any receiving office in Form 'A'
or in any other form as near as thereto, stating clearly the grams of gold,
full name and address of the applicant/s. (ii) Every application shall contain
such documents and particulars as specified in the instructions contained in
the Application Form. (iii) On receipt of an application
under sub paragraph (i), the receiving office shall issue an acknowledgment
receipt in Form 'B', if all requirements of the application are fulfilled. (iv) An incomplete application is
liable to be rejected. (i) The Gold Bonds shall be issued,
in the form of a Stock Certificate, as specified in Form 'C', on the first
business day of next week for the applications received during a given week. (ii) The Gold Bonds shall be eligible
to be converted into Demat form. The Subscription of the Gold Bonds under this
Scheme shall open from Monday to Wednesday of every week (both days inclusive)
during October to December, 2017; Provided that the Central Government may, with
prior notice, close the Scheme at any time before the period specified above. The Sovereign Gold Bonds will be issued every week
from October 2017 to December 2017 as per the calendar specified below: S. No. Date of Subscription Date of Issuance 1. October 09-11, 2017 October 16, 2017 2. October 16-18, 2017 October 23, 2017 3. October 23-25, 2017 October 30, 2017 4. October 30-November 01, 2017 November 06, 2017 5. November 06-08, 2017 November 13, 2017 6. November 13-15, 2017 November 20, 2017 7. November 20-22, 2017 November 27, 2017 8. November 27-29, 2017 December 04, 2017 9. December 04-06, 2017 December 11, 2017 10. December 11-13, 2017 December 18, 2017 11. December 18-20, 2017 December 26, 2017 12. December 26-27, 2017 January 01, 2018 (i) The interest on the Gold Bonds
shall commence from the date of issue and shall be paid at a fixed rate of 2.50
percent per annum on the nominal value of the bond. (ii) The interest shall be payable in
half-yearly rests and the last interest shall be payable along with the
principal on maturity. The receiving offices shall be authorised to
receive applications for the bonds either directly or through agents. (i) All payments for Gold Bonds shall
be accepted in Indian Rupees through cash (upto a maximum of ?
20,000/-) or demand draft, or cheque, or electronic banking. (ii) Where payment is made through
cheque or demand draft, the same shall be drawn in favour of the receiving
office. (i) The Gold Bonds shall be repayable
on the expiration of eight years from the date of the issue of the Bonds: Provided that premature redemption of Gold Bonds
may be permitted after fifth year from the date of issue of Bonds and such
repayments will be made on next interest payment date. (ii) On maturity, the Gold Bonds shall
be redeemed in Indian Rupees and the redemption price shall be based on simple
average of closing price of gold of 999 purity of previous 3 business days from
the date of repayment, published by the India Bullion and Jewelers Association
Limited. (iii) The RBI/depository shall inform
the investor one month in advance, about the date of maturity of the Bond. The holding of these Bonds by banks as collateral
shall be counted towards Statutory Liquidity Ratio holding. (i) The Gold Bonds issued under this
Scheme may be used as collateral security for availing any loan. (ii) The Loan to Value ratio as
applicable to any ordinary gold loan mandated by the Reserve Bank of India shall
also apply to the Bonds issued under this Scheme. (iii) The lien on the bond shall be
marked in the depository by the authorised banks. The interest on the Gold Bond shall be taxable as
per the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961). The capital gains
tax arising on redemption of these bonds to an individual is exempted. The
indexation benefits will be provided to long-term capital gains arising to any
person on transfer of bond. Nomination of and its cancellation shall be made in
Form 'D' and Form 'E', respectively, in accordance with the provisions of the
Government Securities Act, 2006 (38 of 2006) and the Government Securities
Regulations, 2007, published in part III, Section 4 of the Gazette of India
dated the 1st December, 2007. The Gold Bonds issued in the form of Stock
Certificate are transferable by execution of an Instrument of transfer as in
Form 'F', in accordance with the provisions of the Government Securities Act,
2006 (38 of 2006) and the Government Securities Regulations, 2007, published in
part III, Section 4 of the Gazette of India dated the 1st December, 2007. The Gold Bonds shall be eligible for trading from
such date as may be notified by the Reserve Bank of India. The commission for mobilising subscription towards
these bonds shall be paid at the rate of Rupee one per hundred Rupees of the
total subscription received by the receiving offices and receiving offices
shall share at least 50% of the commission so received with the agents or sub
agents for the business procured through them. All other terms and conditions specified in the
notification of Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of
Economic Affairs) vide number F. No. 4 (13) W&M/2008, dated the 8th
October, 2008 shall apply to the Gold Bond issued under this scheme. SOVEREIGN GOLD BOND SCHEME
PREAMBLE