3rd gold bond scheme gets subscription for only 1,128 kg

The third tranche of Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) scheme received a lukewarm response with the government getting a subscription of 1,128 kg gold, amounting to Rs 329 crore - less than the half it got in the last round.
It has so far received subscription for Rs 4,916.253 kg of gold amounting to about Rs 1,322 crore.
The third tranche was opened from March 8-14.
As per initial figures, more than 64,000 applications have been received for a total subscription of 1,128 kilograms of gold amounting to Rs 329 crore, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
It further said that the "trend during the third tranche of SGB shows that the scheme is gradually picking-up amongst the investors with increase in awareness and more clarity about the provisions of the scheme".

The actual figure may vary as comprehensive information from all the authorised receiving agencies is under compilation, the ministry said.

These bonds will be issued on March 29, 2016.
The top receiving agencies in terms of subscription amount are SBI, Bank of India, Indian Bank, ICICI Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, HDFC Bank, Canara Bank, Andhra Bank, PNB, Union Bank of India and Central Bank of India.
During the first tranche issued in November 2015, 62,169 applications were accepted for a total subscription of 915.953 kgs amounting to Rs 246.20 crore by banks and post offices.
In the second tranche (January 18 to 22), about 3.16 lakh applications were accepted for a total subscription of 2,872.3 kilograms of gold amounting to Rs 746.80 crore.

The government had launched the scheme in November, 2015 with an objective to reduce the demand for physical gold and shift a part of the domestic savings used for purchase of gold, into financial savings.
The Bonds are denominated in grams of gold. Minimum permissible investment is two grams and maximum is 500 grams per person per financial year.