Mumbai, Nov. 6 -- The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has urged investors to purchase Electronic Gold Receipts (EGRs) instead of physical gold this Dhanteras, adding that India could avoid gold imports worth USD 5-6 billion annually if gold funds held NSE EGRs and lent half of their combined 116-tonne gold holdings.

The stock exchange noted that every EGR traded on the exchange is backed entirely by physical gold recycled and refined in India, with purity levels of 995 or 999, stored in Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)-approved vaults.

"Every NSE EGR is backed 100% by physical gold that has been recycled and refined in India, and stored in SEBI-approved vaults," it said, stressing, "Every NSE EGR you buy is backed by gold rec...