The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) on Wednesday said it has partnered with integrated gold platform Augmont Enterprises to strengthen the development of the Electronic Gold Receipts (EGR) ecosystem in the country.
The partnership aims to strengthen the exchange-regulated spot gold market by leveraging Augmont’s capabilities in EGR creation, redemption, liquidity provision, delivery and price discovery.
Through this collaboration, the two organisations will work towards increasing market participation, improving liquidity and facilitating the adoption of EGRs among investors, jewellers and other market participants.
EGRs, launched by NSE in May, enable physical gold to be converted into exchange-traded, dematerialised securities held in investors’ demat accounts. It facilitates transparent price discovery, physical redemption and the ability to lend gold through the exchange framework.
“The NSE EGR framework has been created to establish a transparent, efficient and exchange-regulated marketplace for physical gold in India. As more participants join the ecosystem, the market will benefit from improved liquidity, greater standardisation and wider investor participation,” said Sriram Krishnan, Chief Business Development Officer of NSE.
Ketan Kothari, Director, Augmont Enterprises, said EGRs have the potential to become India’s UPI moment for gold. Just as UPI transformed payments by bringing millions into a trusted digital ecosystem, EGRs can formalise India’s vast household gold holdings by enabling them to be held, traded, lent and redeemed through a regulated exchange framework.