State-owned trading firm MMTC to e-auction the precious metal collected by the Government under the Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) in a lots of five kg bars. The scheme, which was announced in the Budget 2015-16, was launched on November 5, and a total of 2.8 tonnes of gold have so far been collected from 105 depositors, Finance Ministry had informed Parliament in May.
The proposal to auction gold was discussed in a meeting recently by commerce and finance ministries, sources said. According to the proposal, a minimum lot size of 5 kg gold bars would be made available and multiple lots can be taken up for auction, they said. Price of gold would be the average of the previous day of opening and closing for the auction, they added. The scheme is intended to mobilise idle gold held by households and institutions in the country and facilitate its use for productive purposes, and in the long run, reduce the country's reliance on imports. PTI