Mumbai: The issue price for the next series of sovereign gold bonds has been fixed at Rs 5,000 per gram of gold, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement on Thursday.

The Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2020-21 – Series IX will be open for subscription from December 28, 2020 to January 1, 2021. “The nominal value of the bond…works out to Rs 5,000 per gram of gold,” the RBI said.

The value of the bond is based on the simple average closing price (published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd) for gold of 999 purity of the last three business days of the week preceding the subscription period, that is, December 22-24.

RBI further said the government, in consultation with the central bank, has decided to offer a discount of Rs 50 per gram on the nominal value to investors applying online and making the payment against the application through digital mode.

“For such investors, the issue price of gold bond will be Rs 4,950 gram of gold,” RBI said. The issue price for Series VIII of gold bonds, that was open for subscription from November 9 to 13, 2020, was Rs 5,177 per gram of gold.