No proposal to monetise temple gold: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified that there was no proposal to monetise temple gold that is lying idle with some of the country's major temple trusts.

There were reports that RBI was looking for an option of requesting rich temples, which have tonnes of gold, to turn them to bullion in order to reduce pressure on gold imports.

''There have been some news stories in the media in the last couple of days about the Reserve Bank of India discussing/considering various options of converting idle gold, including that available with temple trusts, into bullion. The Reserve Bank clarifies that no such proposal is under its consideration at this juncture,'' RBI said in a clarification issued today.

Reports have said that RBI was looking into the option of requesting rich temple trusts like Tirupati and Shirdi and the Sri Padmanabha temple in Kerala which have tonnes of gold to sell them to both find revenue for a bankrupt government and save the economy from the burden of gold imports.

RBI, however, asked banks to import yellow metal strictly on consignment basis. It also said that it should be bought on 100-per cent cash margin.

Meanwhile, the government has steadily increased import duty on gold from 2 per cent to 10 per cent to discourage imports.