Electronic Gold Receipts: Bringing Gold into a Regulated Market Framework

Mon Sep 28 2026

Gold has long been an important part of Indian household wealth, held in the form of jewellery, coins and bars etc. As allocations become large investors will have to consider practical issues around storage, security, liquidity, pricing and transferability.

NSE Electronic Gold Receipts, or NSE EGRs, are designed to address some of these concerns by allowing standardised physical gold to be represented electronically and traded through a regulated exchange framework.

At the VCCircle Family Office Summit 2026, Rohit Mandhotra, Head - Investor Relationships at the National Stock Exchange, discussed the evolving role of EGRs and their relevance for investors looking to hold gold in a more structured form.

What Is an Electronic Gold Receipt?

An EGR is a security representing ownership of physical gold stored within a regulated vaulting ecosystem. SEBI approved the framework for a Gold Exchange in 2021, with Electronic Gold Receipts designated as the instrument representing the underlying physical gold. EGRs were subsequently recognised as securities under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act.

Unlike products that only provide financial exposure to gold prices, EGRs are backed by eligible physical and standardised gold deposited with registered vault managers. Once created, the receipt is credited into the investor's demat account which can then be traded on a recognised stock exchange or converted back into physical gold, subject to the applicable specifications.

How the EGR Framework Works

The ecosystem brings vault managers, depositories, stock exchanges and clearing corporations together.

Eligible physical gold is deposited with a SEBI-registered vault manager and verified against prescribed purity and quality standards. Once accepted, the corresponding EGR is created and credited to the beneficial owner's demat account through the depository system.

The process can also work in reverse. An investor can surrender the EGR and request delivery of physical gold, after which the corresponding electronic receipt is extinguished. This ability to move between physical and electronic ownership is a key feature of the framework.

Standardisation is equally important. Gold used for creating EGRs must conform to recognised standards prescribed under the regulatory framework. NSE currently offer

Source: https://www.vccircle.com