Own Gold Digitally: EGRs Beat SGBs in 3 Ways

NSE's Electronic Gold Receipts let you buy real physical gold on a stock exchange, stored in certified vaults, without needing a locker or worrying about purity. You can convert it to actual gold coins or bars anytime.

Here's what happened: NSE launched Electronic Gold Receipts (EGRs) — digital certificates backed 1:1 by physical gold stored in SEBI-approved vaults.. EGRs trade on stock exchanges just like shares; you can buy as little as 1 gram through your existing demat account.. Unlike gold ETFs, EGR holders can request physical delivery of their gold — coin or bar — from the vault at any time..

What you should do: Check if your broker (Zerodha, Upstox, ICICI Direct) has activated EGR trading in your demat account.. Compare EGR costs — vault storage charges and transaction fees — against Gold ETF expense ratios before buying.. If you already hold physical gold at home, explore depositing it into an EGR vault to earn liquidity without selling..

EGRs carry zero making charges and zero GST on purchase — unlike jewellery where you lose 5–25% upfront on taxes and craftsmanship the moment you buy.