Your quest for gold could end at the post office

CHENNAI: A leading jewellery firm in the city has joined hands with India Post in a bid to make investments in gold easier and accessible for customers.Global recession, fluctuating currencies and high inflation have led to a spurt in investments in gold. Prapanna Kumar, managing director of Nathella Sampathu Chetty Jewellery said, “Gold is proving to be the best hedge against inflation. The average return on gold in the past one year has been in the range of 30 per cent, making it one of the best performing asset classes right now.”Interestingly, his firm is the first to have a tie-up with India Post, which has a vast network across India. “We have tied up with 100 post offices across Chennai to reach out to potential customers,” he said. Having a subscriber base of 50,000, Kumar plans to reach out to five lakh gold consumers through this saving scheme. “A memorandum of understanding has been signed between India Post and Nathella Sampathu Jewellery to facilitate easy collection of monthly instalments of gold jewellery saving scheme, ‘Zero Per cent Purchase Plan’ save in gold,” said Kumar.Now, consumers can approach their nearest post office to register for the scheme. The payments will be accepted in cash and a receipt will be issued in a similar manner as in Nathella showrooms. The monthly instalments need to be in multiples of `1,000,” he added. His firm is also planning to have another outlet in Tambaram and another outside the State, soon. “We are also planning to expand our network throughout Tamil Nadu within the next three months once we get a feedback on the scheme,” he added. Thomas Lourduraj, senior superintendent of Post Office, South Division, said this is the first time India Post has joined hands with a jewellery brand to make savings easy and within the reach of customers. Surprisingly, India Post’s networks across the nook and cranny of the country is keeping investors interested. “We already sold 15 tonnes of gold in Tamil Nadu after having a partnership with Reliance,” he added.The returns from this scheme are quick and based on market prices. The customers won’t be paying Value-Added Tax. Besides, they don’t have to pay for the wastages, said Kumar, adding that all jewellery were BIS 916 hallmark. He also believes that the demand for gold would be more, as even in China the government is encouraging its citizens to invest in gold.