NSE and Augmont Partner to Expand Electronic Gold Receipts Ecosystem in India
Mumbai: Augmont Enterprises Limited has entered into a strategic partnership with the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) to support the growth of Electronic Gold Receipts (EGRs), a SEBI-regulated, exchange-traded instrument that enables physical gold to be converted into a dematerialised security and held in investors’ demat accounts.
The collaboration aims to strengthen India’s organised bullion market by expanding the infrastructure for the creation, redemption, trading and delivery of Electronic Gold Receipts.
Focus on Electronic Gold Receipts
As part of the partnership, Augmont will provide infrastructure to support EGR creation, redemption, liquidity, delivery and price discovery. The company said it will leverage its network of 4.2 crore registered users, 4,975 jewellers on its SPOT platform, 4,600 retail touchpoints, more than 80 Gold For All stores, and API integrations with stockbrokers and financial service providers.
Augmont is also an India Good Delivery accredited refiner, an empanelled refiner for gold futures delivery across exchanges including MCX, and an authorised participant for gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
EGRs and India’s Gold Market
According to the companies, Electronic Gold Receipts are designed to allow physical gold to be held, traded, pledged and lent through a regulated exchange framework.
India is estimated to hold 30,000–35,000 tonnes of gold in private ownership. The EGR framework seeks to enable these holdings to participate in the formal financial system while allowing investors to retain ownership of their gold and access lending opportunities through NSE’s Securities Lending and Borrowing (SLB) platform.
The companies also noted that India’s gold imports reached USD 71.98 billion in FY26, accounting for around 9.2 per cent of total merchandise imports. They said greater utilisation of domestically held gold could help reduce dependence on imported bullion.
Statements from Officials
Shri Sriram Krishnan, Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO), NSE, said the EGR framework has been developed to establish a transparent and exchange-regulated marketplace for physical gold in India.
He said increased participation by refiners and liquidity providers would contribute to improved market liquidity, greater standardisation and broader investor participation.
Ketan Kothari, Whole-time Director of Augmont Enterprises Limited, said Electronic Gold Receipts combine features of digital gold and gold exchange-traded funds while allowing investors to trade, redeem, lend or borrow against gold within a SEBI-regulated framework.
Surendra Mehta, National Secretary of the India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA), said EGRs could improve transparency in gold trading through exchange-based price discovery, standardised quality and a regulated settlement mechanism.
Strengthening India’s Bullion Market
The partnership between NSE and Augmont is expected to support the development of a more organised bullion ecosystem by integrating refining, vaulting, trading, lending and physical redemption of gold within a regulated exchange framework. The initiative is intended to improve market efficiency while encouraging wider participation in India’s electronic gold market.
