New Delhi, April 2 -- The government will have to pay its Sovereign Gold Bond investors Rs.12,06,92,00,00,000 if it were to redeem all outstanding bonds as of yesterday (April 1, 2025). That is a little over Rs.1.2 trillion, or Rs.1.2 lakh crore, with April 1 gold price of Rs.9,284/gram.

The government, in a written reply to the Parliament, has said that "the outstanding value as on March 20, 2025 on issue price is Rs.67,322 crore for 130 tonnes of gold." According to a report by CNBC TV18, this means that in absolute terms, the Centre's liability has increased 79 per cent from its original debt it had taken when it issued SGBs. The amount also does not include the interest it has to pay SGB investors on their investments.

SGB investors...