Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2023-24 (Series II): know all the details about it to decide if you should invest.

📚 Table of Contents

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• What is a Sovereign Gold Bond?
• What is Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2023-24 (Series II)?
• What is the price per gram of Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2023-24 (Series II)?
• How to purchase Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2023-24 (Series II)?
• Does SGB give good return?
• Who should purchase SGB?
• How does this SGB issue price compare with the previous series prices?

This article is a part of our detailed article series on the new issues of Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) as well as maturity of existing SGBs. Ensure you have read the other parts here: Show/Hide

What is a Sovereign Gold Bond?

A Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) is a piece of paper issued (in digital form) by the Government of India with the following features. For every unit of SGB purchased, the investor will:

• buy it when issued at the current price of 1 gram of gold
• get 2.5% interest (paid as 1.25% every six months; fully taxable at slab rates) on the invested amount
• get back money as per the prevailing price of gold in eight years. Money received may be higher or lower than the purchase price and cannot be predicted in advance
• if desired, sell it via the stock exchange five years after issuance
• there are no capital gains taxes if held until maturity for eight years. Else, you will need to pay taxes based on the holding period

To know more about SGB as an investment, please read this list of detailed SGB-related FAQs: Frequently asked questions on Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB): the complete guide.

What is Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2023-24 (Series II)?

SGB is issued by the RBI periodically. This particular series or tranche is called Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2023-24 (Series II). These are the details of this particular series

• Subscription period: Mon, Sep-11 to Thu Sep-15, 2023
• 1 unit of SGB is priced at the average closing values of the IBJA website 1gm of 999 purity gold rate from the last 3 working days of previous week
• Offer price: ₹5923 per gram
• Retail discount: ₹50 per unit of SGB for online application and digital payments
• Price per unit for online subscription: ₹5873
• 2.5% annual interest (paid at the rate of 1.25% on ₹5923 every 6 months) will be received per unit. This interest is taxable
• The bond matures on Sep-2031. The maturity proceeds will be tax-free
• SGB can be purchased only by resident Indians but not by NRIs

What is the price per gram of Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2023-24 (Series II)?

1 unit of Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2023-24 (Series II) is priced at ₹5923. Price for online subscription with digital payment is ₹5873 per unit.

The complete press-release is available here.

How to purchase Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2023-24 (Series II)?

SGB is offered for purchase via most banks, post offices, stock exchanges like NSE/BSE (a demat account is needed) or via the Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL).

If you have not invested in this tranche via the options above, you can buy SGB from the secondary market i.e. the stock exchange: How to buy SGB from the stock market?.

NRIs cannot invest in SGB.

Does SGB give good return?

SGB gives you the exact return of gold price movement (as measured by the IBJA rate of 999 purity gold) that too tax-free plus 2.5% interest.

There are 3 main ways of buying gold in India:

• physical gold in the form of coins / bars
• gold mutual fund or ETF: How to choose a gold mutual fund?
• Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB): Frequently asked questions on Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB): the complete guide

Of these three options, SGB gives the highest return in case you buy gold as SGB: The Ultimate Guide to Which Type of Gold Gives the Best Returns.

The actual return from holding SGB will depend on the price of gold on the maturity date 8 years later and is completely unpredictable. RBI will guarantee that if you invest ₹5923 in this tranche today, you will get the 6-monthly interest but the money you will get will on maturity depend again on the IBJA gold rates at that time.

Historically, gold has returned over 9% a year in India since the 1950s. This means that the price of gold has essentially doubled every 8 years as per the Rule of 72. Since we import most of our gold, the domestic price of gold has fluctuated a lot due to Rupee depreciation against the US Dollar over the decades. Over the years, the average 8-year gold price return has been around 10%. SGB gives a slight interest and is therefore the only option to invest in Gold with the highest possible return.

Here is a complete history of gold price in India: A complete history of gold prices in India since the 1950s.

To understand better about whether SGB is right for you:

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Who should purchase SGB?

We see the following use cases for purchasing SGB:

• if you are accumulating gold for making jewellery on a later date: instead of buying physical gold, you can buy SGB that matures around the time you plan to buy jewellery
• if you are planning to invest in gold as a part of portfolio diversification purpose: as we have argued in this article on adding gold to a portfolio, a small amount of gold added to a portfolio of stocks and bonds has diversification benefits
• if you are looking for a low cost way to get exposure to gold as an asset class: since SGB is a purely digital instrument, guaranteed by the government, and offers the highest return of all the other types of buying gold

How does this SGB issue price compare with the previous series prices?

The complete SGB price history in India is here:

The complete details of all SGB issued so far are available here: Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB): complete issue price history in India.