Bullion mini contracts on Zerodha

Bullion mini contracts are the smaller-lot gold and silver futures listed on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India, a SEBI-regulated commodity exchange, that give retail traders the same per-gram price exposure as the standard contracts at a fraction of the lot value and margin. On Zerodha Kite , once the commodity segment is active, a trader can access gold mini, gold guinea, and gold petal on the gold side, and silver mini and silver micro on the silver side, alongside the full-size 1 kg gold and 30 kg silver contracts.

Bullion is the largest segment of MCX by traded volume, and the mini and micro variants exist because the standard contracts are too large for most retail capital. A 1 kg gold contract carries a margin above Rs 1.25 lakh and a 30 kg silver contract a comparable sum, sizes that put a single position beyond the reach of a trader with a modest account. The mini and micro contracts solve that by scaling the lot down while keeping the price quotation, the tick, and the settlement basis identical. This article sets out every bullion variant, its lot size and tick, the margin profile, and the reason a smaller contract suits a retail trader, with the physical-delivery obligation that applies to all of them flagged throughout.

Conflict-of-interest disclosure. This article is published by the WebNotes Editorial Team for informational purposes and is written independently. WebNotes operates a Zerodha account-opening referral programme, disclosed on the pages that carry the referral link; this article does not carry it and earns no referral commission from anything described here. All figures cite publicly available MCX and SEBI documentation and may change; verify current specifications before trading.

The bullion shelf on MCX

MCX lists four gold contracts and three silver contracts, differing only in lot size. Every gold contract is quoted in rupees per 10 grams against gold of 999.9 purity; every silver contract is quoted in rupees per kilogram. Because the quotation unit is the same across each metal, the price a trader sees is identical whether the lot is 1 gram or 1 kilogram; only the lot value and the margin scale.

The tick value is what decides how much a position moves per price step. On the standard 1 kg gold contract, a Re 1 move in the per-10-gram price moves the lot value by Rs 100; on gold mini at 100 grams, by Rs 10; on gold petal at 1 gram, by Re 1. The same logic runs across silver: a Re 1 per kg move is Rs 30 on the standard contract, Rs 5 on silver mini, and Re 1 on silver micro.

Lot values and why mini suits retail

The lot value is the price multiplied by the lot size, and it sets both the capital at risk per tick and the margin. Taking illustrative bullion levels of roughly Rs 95,000 per 10 grams of gold and roughly Rs 95,000 per kg of silver:

These notional values are illustrative; bullion prices move and the reader should read the live quote. The point is the spread: a standard 1 kg gold lot is a multi-crore notional position, while a gold petal lot is under Rs 10,000 of notional. The mini and micro contracts let a retail trader hold a position sized to a few thousand rupees of margin while keeping the identical per-gram exposure of the larger contract. A trader who wants gold exposure scaled to a Rs 20,000 account uses gold mini or gold petal, not the standard contract.

Liquidity is the counterweight. The standard gold (1 kg) and gold mini (100 g) carry the deepest order books on the gold side; gold guinea and gold petal trade with wider spreads and thinner depth, so the saving on lot value is partly offset by a worse fill. On silver, the standard 30 kg and silver mini (5 kg) are the liquid contracts, with silver micro (1 kg) thinner. For most retail traders the practical choice is gold mini or silver mini, the smallest contracts that still carry usable liquidity.

Margins on bullion contracts

The margin to carry a bullion position overnight (NRML) is the SPAN margin plus the exposure margin plus the extreme loss margin, all computed by the exchange and shown in the Zerodha margin calculator . Because the margin scales with the lot value, the smaller contracts carry proportionately smaller margins.

These margin levels are approximate and move with the gold and silver price and with the exchange’s volatility-driven SPAN parameters; the live figure is always the one on the calculator. For the structure behind these numbers see SPAN margin on Zerodha and exposure margin on Zerodha . SEBI’s peak-margin framework requires the full margin upfront for both intraday (MIS) and overnight (NRML) bullion positions, so there is no thin intraday margin on a gold or silver future.

The procedural walkthrough for the gold mini contract, from segment activation to exit, is covered in how to trade gold mini futures on Zerodha ; the silver micro flow is in how to trade silver micro futures on Zerodha .

Physical delivery applies to all of them

Every MCX bullion contract, from the 30 kg silver down to the 1 gram gold petal, is compulsorily physically delivered if held to expiry. SEBI circular SEBI/HO/CDMRD/DMP/CIR/P/2018/96 dated 12 June 2018 mandated compulsory delivery for non-agricultural commodity derivatives, which removed the earlier cash-settlement option. A position carried into the tender period, which begins several working days before the last trading day, can be assigned a delivery obligation: the holder must take or give delivery of physical gold or silver from an MCX-accredited vault.

A retail trader cannot meet a vault delivery obligation in practice. The remedy is to square off or roll before the tender period; Zerodha’s risk-management desk will force-square positions that have not been closed and that do not meet delivery pre-qualification, potentially at unfavourable prices, and MCX may levy delivery-default penalties. The mechanics and the timing window are set out in how long MCX contracts can be held and how to handle commodity physical delivery risk on Zerodha . The small lot value of a gold petal does not reduce the delivery risk; a 1 gram contract held to expiry is a delivery obligation just as a 1 kg contract is.

Options on bullion futures

MCX lists options on the gold and silver futures, including options on the gold mini and silver mini. These are options on futures: an in-the-money option that is not squared off devolves into the underlying futures contract at the strike, which then needs futures-level margin. Because the gold and silver standard contracts are not monthly while their options are monthly, two consecutive monthly options can devolve into the same underlying futures contract, a quirk that catches option holders. The devolvement mechanic is covered in commodity options on Zerodha .

Trading costs

Bullion, as a non-agricultural commodity, attracts Commodity Transaction Tax at Rs 10 per lakh on the sell side of futures, introduced by the Finance Act 2013. STT does not apply. Brokerage on Zerodha is Rs 20 or 0.03 per cent of turnover, whichever is lower, per order, plus the MCX transaction charge, the SEBI turnover fee, GST at 18 per cent on brokerage and charges, and state stamp duty. The full broker-side computation is in Zerodha commodities and Zerodha commodity brokerage .

Choosing a contract

The practical decision for a retail trader is liquidity against lot value. Gold mini and silver mini are the workhorses: small enough for a modest account, liquid enough for a clean fill. Gold guinea and gold petal cut the margin further but trade with wide spreads, so they suit a trader who specifically wants the smallest possible position and accepts the worse fill. The standard 1 kg gold and 30 kg silver contracts are for larger accounts and for hedgers with genuine physical exposure. Across all of them, the per-gram price view is the same; the choice is purely about how much capital and risk to put on a single lot, and about getting out before the tender period.

See also

• Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX)
• Gold futures
• How to trade gold mini futures on Zerodha
• How to trade silver micro futures on Zerodha
• Natural gas futures on MCX via Zerodha
• Crude oil futures
• Commodity options on Zerodha
• Energy futures margins on Zerodha
• How long MCX contracts can be held
• How to handle commodity physical delivery risk on Zerodha
• SPAN margin on Zerodha
• Exposure margin on Zerodha
• Zerodha margin calculator
• Zerodha commodity segment
• Zerodha commodities
• Zerodha commodity brokerage
• Zerodha MCX membership
• Zerodha MCX trading hours
• Commodity Transaction Tax
• How to trade crude oil futures on MCX via Zerodha
• Gold ETF India
• Silver ETF India
• F&O taxation in India
• Kite, Zerodha’s trading platform
• SEBI Investment Management Department

External references

• MCX bullion product page
• MCX contract specifications
• SEBI commodity derivatives circulars
• Zerodha support: commodity trading
• Zerodha margin calculator

References

1. MCX Contract Specifications: Gold, Gold Mini, Gold Guinea, Gold Petal, Silver, Silver Mini, Silver Micro, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd, mcxindia.com.
2. SEBI Circular SEBI/HO/CDMRD/DMP/CIR/P/2018/96 dated 12 June 2018, Compulsory delivery in commodity derivatives, Securities and Exchange Board of India.
3. SEBI Circular SEBI/HO/CDMRD/DMP/CIR/P/2021/020, Margining framework for commodity derivatives, Securities and Exchange Board of India.
4. Finance Act 2013, Chapter VII, Commodity Transaction Tax, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
5. MCX Bye-Laws and Business Rules, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (current version), mcxindia.com.