Centre collects 400 gm gold from monetisation scheme
New Delhi,20 November: BJP government Gold Monetisation scheme became big flop.This scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month, has so far attracted only 400 grams of gold. Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council’s (GJEPC) northern region Chairman Anil Sankhwal disclosed this today. He said, “Under gold monetisation scheme 400 grams have been deposited so far.” Industry representatives met Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das and discussed ways for opening more centres for gold testing. “If the 13,000 BIS-certified jewellers are allowed to act as collection agents, then I am hopeful that the scheme will take off in a good way,” Sankhwal said. Apart from gems and jewellery industry, the meeting was also attended by representatives from the Reserve Bank, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), MMTC and private banks.gold
Vice Chairman Export Promotion Council for EOUs & SEZs and CEO P P Jewellers Rahul Gupta said: “We requested Finance Ministry to allow jewellers registered with BIS to act as collection point for gold.” At present, there are 3.5 lakh jewellers in the country, of which 13,000 are BIS-certified. Now the Finance Ministry in principle have agreed to make them eligible as testing centres. According to a ministry official, 55 more gold purity testing centres would come up by December, up from 29 at present. Also number of gold refinery would go up to 20, up from four at present. To meet the growing domestic demand, India imports about 800-1,000 tonnes of gold annually.
