Gold Investment on WebNotes

Gold ETF vs Sovereign Gold Bond vs Gold mutual fund

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

India offers three regulated paper-gold investment instruments: Gold ETFs (exchange-traded funds backed by physical gold), Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) (government-issued bonds denominated in grams of gold), and Gold Mutual Funds (fund-of-fund schemes investing in gold ETFs). Each tracks the domestic price of 24-carat gold but differs in structure, cost, taxation, and liquidity.

Physical gold (jewellery, coins, bars) is excluded from this comparison.

Instrument overview

Gold ETF

A Gold ETF is an exchange-traded fund that holds physical gold (minimum 99.5% purity) as the underlying asset. Each unit of a Gold ETF typically represents 1 gram (or 0.01 gram for some fund-specific units) of gold. Gold ETFs are SEBI-regulated mutual fund schemes listed on NSE and BSE. A demat account is required. AMFI-registered AMCs offering Gold ETFs include Nippon India, HDFC, SBI, Axis, Kotak, UTI, and ICICI Prudential, among others.

How to buy a Sovereign Gold Bond on the secondary market via Kite

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This guide explains how to buy Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) in the exchange-listed secondary market through Zerodha’s Kite platform. SGBs are government securities denominated in units of one gram of gold, issued by the Government of India under the SGB Scheme administered by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Once issued, SGBs are listed on the NSE and BSE and can be bought and sold like listed securities.

Buying in the secondary market offers two advantages over a new primary issue: (a) you can buy at any time, not only during the two-to-three-day subscription windows that RBI opens periodically; and (b) secondary market prices often trade at a discount to the prevailing gold price NAV, allowing entry below the RBI’s official issue price.

How to redeem an SGB at maturity

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This guide explains the process of redeeming a Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) at its 8-year maturity date. SGBs are issued by the Government of India under the SGB Scheme, administered by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Each SGB tranche has a fixed tenor of 8 years from its original issue date. At maturity, RBI redeems the bonds at the prevailing gold price and the capital gains arising from the maturity redemption are exempt from capital gains tax for all holders, including secondary market buyers who hold to maturity.

Sovereign Gold Bonds on Zerodha

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) are government securities denominated in grams of gold. They are issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Government of India. SGBs offer investors exposure to gold price returns plus a fixed annual interest of 2.5% per annum on the issue price, without the need to hold physical gold. Zerodha provides access to SGB subscriptions during primary issue windows and to secondary market SGB trading through Kite.