Ways to invest in gold
The most common way is to buy physical gold in the form of gold bars, gold coins or jewellery. But, you have to pay 3% GST and additional making charges (15% to 25%) of the gold price.
Also, there are risks of theft and gold purity. If you want to buy gold for investment purposes, I will suggest 4 different options.
- If you want to buy gold with as much as ₹5 (can vary), you can choose digital gold. Mobile apps like PhonePe, Google Pay, etc. However, it also has 3% GST payable on every purchase.
- Gold ETFs also come with a low minimum investment range. You can hold it in your DEMAT account in digital form without any time limitation.
- Gold mutual funds allow you to invest in a lump sum or through SIP. Similar to other mutual funds, professional and experienced fund managers allocate your investment in gold-related assets such as gold ETFs.
- If you want to invest in multiples of 1g of gold, the Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) can be a choice. The Reserve Bank of India issues this bond on behalf of the Indian Government. It comes with 8 years of maturity, 2.5% interest every year on the issue price, and no tax payable if you hold until maturity.
In 2025, 24k gold already touched ₹1,10,000 per 10g. If you are an investor, the options other than physical gold can be a good option for portfolio diversification.