Gold schemes step towards unlocking $800 bn of India's gold wealth: Chanda Kochhar

The gold monetization scheme will constitute a new source of income for households for whom the metal served as a passive investment earlier, yielding no return, Chanda Kochhar said.

The launch of the gold schemes is an important step towards unlocking USD 800 billion of the country’s gold wealth and channelising it towards development. The sovereign gold bond scheme serves as an effective financial investment instrument and still provides the benefits that Indian consumers usually buy physical gold for, Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank said.

This will help to rebalance the profile of household savings from more traditional forms of gold purchase towards a more productive form. The gold monetization scheme will constitute a new source of income for households for whom the metal served as a passive investment earlier, yielding no return. This also has the additional benefit of reducing storage costs and eliminating security concerns, Chanda Kochhar says.