MUMBAI (Commodity Online): At a time when everything the world is running on EMIs, why can't people buy gold jewellery by paying in instalments? And if you get some bonus for doing that why would anybody think twice?

This is the unique way Tata Group's Tanishq, the renowned jewellery brand, thought before launching its 'Golden Harvest Saving Scheme'. The scheme is highly popular among middle class people who wanted to buy jewellery on some particular occasions like wedding or festivals.

The scheme allows you to save Rs 500 every month for a period of 12 months or 18 months and buy gold jewellery worth the corpus at maturity.

At the 12th/18th month, Tanishq will add a special bonus that works as a return on the investment over and above the planned purchase of jewellery. If you are depositing Rs 2,000 every month under the 12 months option, at the end of 11 months, you would have accumulated Rs 22,000 and the jeweller would deposit the last instalment of Rs 2,000 taking your total to Rs 24,000.

The last instalment of Rs 2,000 acts as the interest component, which works to around 8.3%. The return on a 12-month recurring deposit, on the other hand, fetches around 5.75-6.25%. The amount of the monthly instalment paid by the customer is fixed under the 12-month scheme.

Under the 18 months scheme, the monthly instalment can vary from Rs 500 to Rs 10,000 every month. Suppose you are investing Rs 2,000 every month, you will earn a bonus of Rs 2,600 at maturity. The bonus for 18 months is prefixed by the jeweller based upon the size of the instalment.

You can use the corpus to buy 22-carat pure gold or 18-carat diamond-studded and platinum jewellery. You cannot buy a solitaire, gold or silver coins using this money.

So, you should invest in this scheme only if you want to buy gold jewellery. In case, you are unable to utilise the entire money, the company gives you a voucher worth the balance. You cannot ask for a cash refund.

Under the 12-month scheme, the maturity date would get postponed by the total number of days in the missed month.

Under the 18-month scheme, the company has worked out a formula such that the bonus will be proportionately reduced by the number of days delayed for every missed or delayed instalment.

If you don't trust your memory with dates then you could give the 12 or 18 post-dated cheques to Tanishq.

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