The government has further eased norms for the gold monetisation scheme, giving investors the option to redeem the principal amount in medium- and long-term deposits either in gold or in rupees.
Where the redemption of the deposit is in gold, an administrative charge at a rate of 0.2 per cent of the notional redemption amount in terms of rupees shall be collected from the depositor.
However, the interest amount calculated in these schemes will be based on the value of gold in rupees at the time of deposit and will be paid only in cash.
It is expected that the above modification will make the scheme more attractive for potential depositors.
Under the original guidelines, redemption of the principal in medium- and long-term deposits was only in cash equal to the rupees of the weight of the deposited gold at the prices prevailing at the time of redemption.
The option of redemption in cash or in gold was available only for short-term deposits.
Launched in November last year, the gold monetisation scheme has failed to catch the public fancy forcing the Finance Ministry and the RBI to review its provisions time and again. By March 18, the government had received just three tonne of gold under the scheme.