NSE starts digital gold trading
What's the story
The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has launched live trading in its Electronic Gold Receipts (EGRs) segment. The move is a major step toward digitizing gold trading and increasing transparency in the bullion market. The exchange announced that live trading started on May 18, following a successful mock trading session on May 16 with no system errors or exceptions.
Market reaction
NSE receives overwhelming response for EGR product
The NSE has received an "overwhelming response" from market participants for its EGR product. As part of the rollout, vaulting and collection centers for EGRs are operational in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Four more centers in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru are being activated from Sunday as part of this expansion plan.
Future plans
Plans to expand EGR network across India
The NSE intends to expand its EGR network in phases, with up to 120 collection centers planned across India over time. This expansion is part of a broader effort by market regulators and exchanges to formalize gold trading and create a regulated spot market structure for the precious metal in India.
EGR explained
What are electronic gold receipts?
EGRs are exchange-traded instruments that represent ownership of physical gold stored in secured vaults. Each receipt is backed by a certain quantity of gold, allowing investors to trade it in a dematerialized format, much like shares. The introduction of EGRs is expected to deepen India's gold market ecosystem by integrating physical bullion with exchange-based trading infrastructure.