NEW DELHI (Commodity Online): Encouraged by the brisk sale of gold coins through post offices, India’s postal services department is extending the schemes to new outlets with offers of discounts for special purchases. And people are thronging post offices across the country to buy gold coins of various grams.

Gold coins are the hottest commodities on sale in India these days. While banks are competing with each other to open counters in their branches to sell gold coins, the postal department in association with brokerage firm Reliance Money and the World Gold Council (WGC) has been introducing novel schemes to sell coins through post offices.

Buoyed by the huge success of gold coins sales through post offices, India Post is adding more post offices to step up the trade in the yellow metal.

Every month, India Post is launching gold coins trade in new post offices. On Monday, India Post started the services in Jharkhand post circle, covering several post offices. And dozens of people came to the postal outlets to buy gold coins.

“It is a new experience. So far, we have been going to the post offices to collect letters, money orders and registered posts. Now it is nice that we can buy gold coins from post offices,” Sindhu Dinesh, a house-wife who bought 0.5 gram gold coin of 24-carat from the Bistupur General Post Office.

“Gold coins are an assets that can be kept for my daughter’s marriage,” she added.

To step up gold coins sale in Jharkhand state, India Post has decided to offer 5 per cent discounts to every purchase of gold coins. “Discounts on gold coins always help people to go on buying more than what they thought. So we will step up more discount offers in the coming months,” a post official said.

He said already some 280 post offices across India are selling gold coins. Several post offices are offering discounts as per the regional festivals. "While Kerala state offers discounts during the Onam festival in August, northern Indian states offer discounts during Diwali, the festival of lights in October. There is certainly a gold buying spree in post offices," he added.

India is the largest consumer of gold in the world. The approximate consumption of gold in India is around 700 tonnes per year.

As per the currency scheme India Post-Reliance Money-WGC scheme, the postal department is selling 0.5 gm, 1 gm, 5 gm and 8 gm gold coins packed in tamper-proof sealed covers.

India Post gives training in handling the software, developed by Reliance Money, for handling gold coins sale and transactions. Every customer is being given an invoice or bill detailing the transaction. While India Post earns an amount as commission, Reliance Money bears the service tax on the commission paid to India Post.

The stocking and sale of gold coins in the post offices are under the direct supervision of the respective postmasters. The postmaster is required to check the Reliance Money web site on a regular basis for the latest updates of gold rates and discounts.

Each coin comes with certification from Valcambi Switzerland and quality packaging, as well as a number and assayer certificate. The gold coins are packed in a sealed cover with the certification from Valcambi, Switzerland with the India Post logo.

India Post is offering 5% special discount to its customers during festive seasons and special occasions.