Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation (MMTC) plans to launch India Gold coins carrying symbols of Ashoka Chakra and Mahatma Gandhi, in October, reports say. The coins, according to MMTC would be seen as the national coin of India, something which is prevalent in other countries but was not so far in India, reports say. Designs of the coins have been approved and production has commenced, reports add. MMTC would manufacture and market these coins, in 5gm and 10 gm, with an initial monthly production of around 20,000 coins to be increased to 50,000 gold coins per month as per demand.

The launch of the coins is part of the Indian government’s gold monetization scheme announced during the 2015-16 budget, and would help standardization of gold coins in India, as per MMTC, reports say. To manufacture the coins, MMTC would recycle the gold available through the gold monetization scheme. It noted that so far, it has recycled unused gold from the State Bank of India (SBI) received from various temples of India, to manufacture the coins, as per reports. The coins would be marketed at MMTC outlets and in international markets in UK, USA and South Africa. MMTC is also in talks with India Post and SBI to market the coins, reports add.