RBI/2018-19/192
IDMD.CDD.No.3392/14.04.050/2018-19
May
30, 2019
The Chairman & Managing
Director
All Scheduled Commercial Banks,
(Excluding RRBs)
Designated Post Offices
Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd. (SHCIL)
National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. & Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd.
Dear Sir/Madam,
Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme (SGB)
2019-20- Series I/II/III/IV
Government of India
has vide its Notification F.No. 4(7)-W&M/2019 dated May 30, 2019 announced the Sovereign
Gold Bond Scheme 2019-20- Series I/II/III/IV. Under the scheme there
will be a distinct series (starting from Series I) for every tranche which
will be indicated on the Bond issued to the investor. The Government of
India may, with prior notice, close the Scheme before the specified period.
The terms and conditions of the issuance of the Bonds shall be as follows:
1. Eligibility for Investment:
The Bonds under this Scheme may
be held 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. The bond may also be held by a Trust, HUFs, Charitable
Institution and University. “Person resident in India” is defined under
clause (v) of section 2 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of
1999).
2. Form of Security
The Bonds shall be issued in the
form of Government of India Stock in accordance with section 3 of the
Government Securities Act, 2006. The investors will be issued a Holding
Certificate (Form C). The Bonds shall be
eligible for conversion into de-mat form.
3. Date of Issue
The date of issuance shall be as
per the details given in Para 7.
4. Denomination
The Bonds shall be denominated
in units of one gram of gold or multiples thereof. Minimum investment in
the Bonds shall be one gram with a maximum limit of subscription per fiscal
year 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
i.
in
case of joint holding, the above limits shall be applicable to the first
applicant only;
ii.
annual
ceiling will include bonds subscribed under different tranches during
initial issuance by Government and those purchased from the secondary
market; and
iii.
the
ceiling on investment will not include the holdings as collateral by banks
and other Financial Institutions.
5. Issue Price
The nominal value of the Bonds
shall be fixed in Indian Rupees fixed on the basis of simple average of
closing price of gold of 999 purity published by the India Bullion and
Jewellers Association Limited for the last 3 working days of the week
preceding the subscription period. 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.
6. Period of subscription.-
The Subscription of the Gold
Bonds under this Scheme shall be open as specified in Section 7 below.
Provided that the Central
Government may, with prior notice, close the Scheme at any time before the
period specified above
7. Calendar of Issuance.-
S.No.
|
Tranche
|
Date
of Subscription
|
Date
of Issuance
|
1
|
2019-20 Series I
|
June 03-07, 2019
|
June 11, 2019
|
2
|
2019-20 Series II
|
July 08-12, 2019
|
July 16, 2019
|
3
|
2019-20 Series III
|
August 05-09, 2019
|
August 14, 2019
|
4
|
2019-20 Series IV
|
September 09-13, 2019
|
September 17, 2019
|
8. Interest
The Bonds shall bear interest
from the date of issue at the rate of 2.50 percent (fixed rate) per annum
on the nominal value. Interest shall be paid in half-yearly rests and the
last interest shall be payable along with principal on maturity.
9. Receiving Offices
Scheduled Commercial
Banks (excluding RRBs, Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks), designated Post Offices
(as may be notified), Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL)
and recognized stock exchanges viz., National
Stock Exchange of India Limited and Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd. are
authorized to receive applications for the Bonds either directly or through
agents.
10. Payment Options
Payment shall be accepted in
Indian Rupees through cash up to a maximum of ? 20,000/- or Demand Drafts
or Cheque or Electronic banking. Where payment is made through cheque or
demand draft, the same shall be drawn in favour of the Receiving Office.
11. Redemption
i) The Bonds shall be repayable
on the expiration of eight years from the date of issue of the Bonds.
Pre-mature redemption of the Bond is permitted after fifth year of the date
of issue of the Bonds and such repayments shall be made on the next
interest payment date.
ii) The redemption price shall
be fixed in Indian Rupees and the redemption price shall be based on simple
average of closing price of gold of 999 purity of the previous 3 working
days, published by the India Bullion and Jewelers Association Limited.
12. Repayment
RBI/depository shall inform the
investor about the date of maturity of the Bond one month before its
maturity.
13. Eligibility for Statutory
Liquidity Ratio (SLR)
Bonds acquired by the banks
through the process of invoking lien/hypothecation/pledge alone shall be
counted towards Statutory Liquidity Ratio.
14. Loan against Bonds
The Bonds may be used as
collateral for loans. The Loan to Value ratio will be as applicable to
ordinary gold loan mandated by the RBI from time to time. The lien on the
Bonds shall be marked in the depository by the authorized banks. The loan
against SGBs would be subject to decision of the lending bank/institution,
and cannot be inferred as a matter of right by the SGB holder.
15. Tax Treatment
Interest on the Bonds shall be
taxable as per the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961). The
capital gains tax arising on redemption of SGB to an individual has been
exempted. The indexation benefits will be provided to long term capital
gains arising to any person on transfer of bond.
16. Applications
Subscription for the Bonds may
be made in the prescribed application form (Form
‘A’) or in any other form as near as thereto, stating clearly the
grams of gold and the full name and address of the applicant. Every
application must be accompanied by the ‘PAN details’ issued by the Income
Tax Department to the investor(s). The Receiving Office shall issue an
acknowledgment receipt in Form ‘B’ to
the applicant.
17. Nomination
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 December 1, 2007. An individual Non - resident Indian may get the
security transferred in his name on account of his being a nominee of a
deceased investor provided that:
i.
the
Non-Resident investor shall need to hold the security till early redemption
or till maturity; and
ii.
the
interest and maturity proceeds of the investment shall not be repatriable.
18. Transferability
The Bonds issued in the form of
Stock Certificate shall be 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 December 1, 2007.
19. Tradability of bonds
The Bonds shall be eligible for
trading from such date as may be notified by the Reserve Bank of India.
20. Commission for mobilizing
subscription
Commission for mobilizing
subscription shall be paid at the rate of Rupee one per hundred of the
total subscription received by the receiving offices on the applications
received 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.
21. 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(2)
W&M/2018, dated 27th March 2018 shall apply to the Bonds.
22. Operational guidelines
relating to Sovereign Gold Bonds are issued vide circular IDMD.CDD.No.3391/14.04.050/2018-19 dated May
30, 2019.
Yours faithfully,
(Raksha Mishra)
General Manager
Encls.: As above.
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