E-Gold Vs Gold ETFs- Which is a Better Option?

Updated on September 6, 2026 , 31573 views

E-Gold Vs Gold ETFs? Which is a better Gold Investment option? Which avenue has a higher yield? These are some of the common questions often asked by an investor wanting to invest in these non-physical form of gold. Well, both the forms are unique in trading with each having its own benefits in essential parameters like returns, taxation, holding period, etc. Therefore, we will see how both- Gold ETFs and E-Gold differ from each other and which form makes a better gold investment option!

E- Gold

E-Gold is a unique gold investment product launched by the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL). This product enables investors to Buy Gold in an electronic form on the NSE’s trading platform and the gold bought by you will reflect in your Demat account.

E-Gold is one such investment that allows investors to buy gold in a smaller denomination, such as 1gm, 2gm, 3gm, etc. The gold units that you would buy here will be credited to your Demat account in T+2 days. Similarly, for instance, if you have sold today, the same will debited from your Demat account in 2 days (from the date of sale).

E-gold is less expensive compared to gold ETFs as the latter is exposed to various charges like asset management fees, security service fees, etc. To know the current value of your investment in gold ETFs, you have to track the NAV of that fund but in the case of e-gold, the value is that of the prevailing gold price.

Gold ETFs

Gold ETFs has become one of the most popular modes of gold investments. Gold ETFs are also the underlying of open-ended Gold Mutual Funds that help you to invest your money in gold. The underlying gold purity is 99.5%. Gold ETFs are also known as paper gold. These are listed and traded on major stock exchanges and investors are assigned units where each unit usually represents one gram of gold.

In gold ETFs, investors can trade in their existing Demat account. Gold ETFs offers investors a secure way to access the gold market. They also provide the benefit of liquidity as it can be traded at any time during the trading period.

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E-Gold Vs Gold ETFs: Know the Key Differences

Trading Time

Gold ETFs can be traded only between 9:00 am to 3:30 pm on weekdays. Whereas, e-gold can be traded from 10:00 am to 11:30 pm on weekdays.

Conversion to Physical Form

Both the forms can be converted into physical gold, but the minimum quantity for each varies. The minimum quantity for e-gold is 8 grams, while, in gold-ETF, one can convert only when it exceeds a certain size of 500gm to 1Kg.

E-Gold is the Most Cost

Efficient form and is able to trace gold prices more closely than gold ETFs. However, e-gold loses out to gold ETFs when it comes to taxation.

But, now, when you know the key difference between these two forms, invest in an avenue that offers secure investment with better returns!

Parameters	Gold ETFs	E-Gold
Separate Demat Account	No	Yes
Holdings	Owned by AMCs	Yes
Conversion to Physical Gold	Minimum 0.5-1 kg	Investors directly hold gold units in demat account
Short Term Capital Gains	Less than 1 year- 20% tax on returns	Less than 3 years- 20% tax on returns
Long Term Capital Gains	After 1 year- 10% tax returns	After 3 years- 10% tax on returns
Recurring Expenses	0.40%	1%
Returns	Highest at it's the most cost-effective	Slightly lower than gold ETF
Pricing	Linked to International Gold Price	Linked to Indian Gold Price
Convert to Jewelry	Not available	Available with selected Jewellers

Fund Selection Methodology used to find 5 funds

Sub-category: Gold
Sorted On : 1-year return (high to low)
Tags: fcpro
No Of Funds: 5

Best Gold ETFs to Invest 2026

Some of the best underlying Gold ETFs to Invest are as follows:

1. SBI Gold Fund

The scheme seeks to provide returns that closely correspond to returns provided by SBI - ETF Gold (Previously known as SBI GETS).

Research Highlights for SBI Gold Fund

Highest AUM (₹15,812 Cr).
Oldest track record among peers (15 yrs).
Top rated.
Risk profile: Moderately High.
5Y return: 25.01% (top quartile).
3Y return: 35.54% (top quartile).
1Y return: 41.78% (top quartile).
1M return: 1.91% (bottom quartile).
Alpha: 0.00 (top quartile).
Sharpe: 1.22 (top quartile).
Information ratio: 0.00 (top quartile).
Top bond sector: Cash Equivalent.
Largest holding SBI Gold ETF (~100.1%).
Top-3 holdings concentration ~100.4%.

Below is the key information for SBI Gold Fund

SBI Gold Fund Growth
Launch Date	12 Sep 11
NAV (08 Sep 26)	₹44.3236 ↑ 0.10 (0.22 %)
Net Assets (Cr)	₹15,812 on 31 Jul 26
Category	Gold - Gold
AMC	SBI Funds Management Private Limited
Rating	☆☆
Risk	Moderately High
Expense Ratio	0.3
Sharpe Ratio	1.22
Information Ratio	0
Alpha Ratio	0
Min Investment	5,000
Min SIP Investment	500
Exit Load	0-1 Years (1%),1 Years and above(NIL)

Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.

Date	Value
31 Aug 21	₹10,000
31 Aug 22	₹10,698
31 Aug 23	₹12,347
31 Aug 24	₹14,787
31 Aug 25	₹20,728
31 Aug 26	₹30,931

SBI Gold Fund SIP Returns

Total investment amount is ₹300,000
expected amount after 5 Years is ₹570,326.
Net Profit of ₹270,326 Invest Now

Returns for SBI Gold Fund

Returns up to 1 year are on absolute basis & more than 1 year are on CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) basis. as on 8 Sep 26

Duration	Returns
1 Month	1.9%
3 Month	1.2%
6 Month	-3.9%
1 Year	41.8%
3 Year	35.5%
5 Year	25%
10 Year
15 Year
Since launch	10.4%

Historical performance (Yearly) on absolute basis

Year	Returns
2025	71.5%
2024	19.6%
2023	14.1%
2022	12.6%
2021	-5.7%
2020	27.4%
2019	22.8%
2018	6.4%
2017	3.5%
2016	10%

Fund Manager information for SBI Gold Fund

Name	Since	Tenure
Viral Chhadva	1 Mar 26	0.42 Yr.

Data below for SBI Gold Fund as on 31 Jul 26

Asset Allocation

Asset Class	Value
Cash	1.74%
Other	98.26%

Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio

Name	Holding	Value	Quantity
SBI Gold ETF - \| -	100%	₹15,823 Cr	1,309,409,339 ↑ 29,228,118
Net Receivable / Payable CBLO \| -	0%	-₹31 Cr
Treps CBLO/Reverse Repo \| -	0%	₹20 Cr

2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund

ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund (the Scheme) is a fund of funds scheme with the primary objective to generate returns by investing in units of ICICI Prudential Gold Exchange Traded Fund (IPru Gold ETF). However, there can be no assurance that the investment objectives of the Scheme will be realized.

Research Highlights for ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund

Bottom quartile AUM (₹6,398 Cr).
Established history (14+ yrs).
Rating: 1★ (lower mid).
Risk profile: Moderately High.
5Y return: 24.91% (upper mid).
3Y return: 35.51% (upper mid).
1Y return: 41.40% (upper mid).
1M return: 1.89% (bottom quartile).
Alpha: 0.00 (upper mid).
Sharpe: 1.16 (bottom quartile).
Information ratio: 0.00 (upper mid).
Top bond sector: Cash Equivalent.
Largest holding ICICI Pru Gold ETF (~99.9%).
Top-3 holdings concentration ~100.3%.

Below is the key information for ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund

ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund Growth
Launch Date	11 Oct 11
NAV (08 Sep 26)	₹46.8277 ↑ 0.13 (0.28 %)
Net Assets (Cr)	₹6,398 on 31 Jul 26
Category	Gold - Gold
AMC	ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Limited
Rating	☆
Risk	Moderately High
Expense Ratio	0.38
Sharpe Ratio	1.16
Information Ratio	0
Alpha Ratio	0
Min Investment	5,000
Min SIP Investment	100
Exit Load	0-15 Months (2%),15 Months and above(NIL)

Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.

Date	Value
31 Aug 21	₹10,000
31 Aug 22	₹10,737
31 Aug 23	₹12,284
31 Aug 24	₹14,764
31 Aug 25	₹20,704
31 Aug 26	₹30,750

ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund SIP Returns

Total investment amount is ₹300,000
expected amount after 5 Years is ₹556,833.
Net Profit of ₹256,833 Invest Now

Returns for ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund

Returns up to 1 year are on absolute basis & more than 1 year are on CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) basis. as on 8 Sep 26

Duration	Returns
1 Month	1.9%
3 Month	1.4%
6 Month	-3.8%
1 Year	41.4%
3 Year	35.5%
5 Year	24.9%
10 Year
15 Year
Since launch	10.9%

Historical performance (Yearly) on absolute basis

Year	Returns
2025	72%
2024	19.5%
2023	13.5%
2022	12.7%
2021	-5.4%
2020	26.6%
2019	22.7%
2018	7.4%
2017	0.8%
2016	8.9%

Fund Manager information for ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund

Name	Since	Tenure
Manish Banthia	27 Sep 12	13.85 Yr.
Nishit Patel	29 Dec 20	5.59 Yr.
Ashwini Bharucha	1 Nov 25	0.75 Yr.
Venus Ahuja	1 Nov 25	0.75 Yr.

Data below for ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund as on 31 Jul 26

Asset Allocation

Asset Class	Value
Cash	2.02%
Other	97.98%

Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio

Name	Holding	Value	Quantity
ICICI Pru Gold ETF - \| -	100%	₹6,392 Cr	526,862,660 ↑ 5,383,968
Treps CBLO/Reverse Repo \| -	0%	₹15 Cr
Net Current Assets Net Current Assets \| -	0%	-₹10 Cr

3. IDBI Gold Fund

The investment objective of the Scheme will be to generate returns that correspond closely to the returns generated by IDBI Gold Exchange Traded Fund (IDBI GOLD ETF).

Research Highlights for IDBI Gold Fund

Bottom quartile AUM (₹775 Cr).
Established history (14+ yrs).
Not Rated.
Risk profile: Moderately High.
5Y return: 24.85% (lower mid).
3Y return: 35.38% (lower mid).
1Y return: 40.41% (lower mid).
1M return: 2.12% (top quartile).
Alpha: 0.00 (lower mid).
Sharpe: 1.17 (lower mid).
Information ratio: 0.00 (lower mid).
Top bond sector: Cash Equivalent.
Largest holding LIC MF Gold ETF (~100.0%).
Top-3 holdings concentration ~100.6%.

Below is the key information for IDBI Gold Fund

IDBI Gold Fund Growth
Launch Date	14 Aug 12
NAV (08 Sep 26)	₹39.2158 ↑ 0.03 (0.07 %)
Net Assets (Cr)	₹775 on 31 Jul 26
Category	Gold - Gold
AMC	IDBI Asset Management Limited
Rating	Not Rated
Risk	Moderately High
Expense Ratio	0.64
Sharpe Ratio	1.17
Information Ratio	0
Alpha Ratio	0
Min Investment	5,000
Min SIP Investment	500
Exit Load	0-12 Months (1%),12 Months and above(NIL)

Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.

Date	Value
31 Aug 21	₹10,000
31 Aug 22	₹10,802
31 Aug 23	₹12,318
31 Aug 24	₹14,809
31 Aug 25	₹20,729
31 Aug 26	₹30,772

IDBI Gold Fund SIP Returns

Total investment amount is ₹300,000
expected amount after 5 Years is ₹556,833.
Net Profit of ₹256,833 Invest Now

Returns for IDBI Gold Fund

Returns up to 1 year are on absolute basis & more than 1 year are on CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) basis. as on 8 Sep 26

Duration	Returns
1 Month	2.1%
3 Month	1%
6 Month	-4.5%
1 Year	40.4%
3 Year	35.4%
5 Year	24.8%
10 Year
15 Year
Since launch	10.2%

Historical performance (Yearly) on absolute basis

Year	Returns
2025	79%
2024	18.7%
2023	14.8%
2022	12%
2021	-4%
2020	24.2%
2019	21.6%
2018	5.8%
2017	1.4%
2016	8.3%

Fund Manager information for IDBI Gold Fund

Name	Since	Tenure
Sumit Bhatnagar	1 Jun 24	2.17 Yr.
Sasikant Aravamuthan	1 Jul 26	0.08 Yr.

Data below for IDBI Gold Fund as on 31 Jul 26

Asset Allocation

Asset Class	Value
Cash	1.95%
Other	98.05%

Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio

Name	Holding	Value	Quantity
LIC MF Gold ETF - \| -	100%	₹775 Cr	60,829,200 ↑ 945,000
Treps CBLO/Reverse Repo \| -	0%	₹2 Cr
Net Receivables / (Payables) Net Current Assets \| -	0%	-₹2 Cr

4. HDFC Gold Fund

To seek capital appreciation by investing in units of HDFC Gold Exchange Traded Fund (HGETF).

Research Highlights for HDFC Gold Fund

Upper mid AUM (₹11,197 Cr).
Established history (14+ yrs).
Rating: 1★ (bottom quartile).
Risk profile: Moderately High.
5Y return: 24.84% (bottom quartile).
3Y return: 35.25% (bottom quartile).
1Y return: 39.45% (bottom quartile).
1M return: 2.10% (upper mid).
Alpha: 0.00 (bottom quartile).
Sharpe: 1.22 (upper mid).
Information ratio: 0.00 (bottom quartile).
Top bond sector: Cash Equivalent.
Largest holding HDFC Gold ETF (~100.0%).
Top-3 holdings concentration ~100.2%.

Below is the key information for HDFC Gold Fund

HDFC Gold Fund Growth
Launch Date	24 Oct 11
NAV (08 Sep 26)	₹45.2172 ↑ 0.10 (0.23 %)
Net Assets (Cr)	₹11,197 on 31 Jul 26
Category	Gold - Gold
AMC	HDFC Asset Management Company Limited
Rating	☆
Risk	Moderately High
Expense Ratio	0.49
Sharpe Ratio	1.22
Information Ratio	0
Alpha Ratio	0
Min Investment	5,000
Min SIP Investment	300
Exit Load	0-6 Months (2%),6-12 Months (1%),12 Months and above(NIL)

Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.

Date	Value
31 Aug 21	₹10,000
31 Aug 22	₹10,714
31 Aug 23	₹12,278
31 Aug 24	₹14,771
31 Aug 25	₹20,591
31 Aug 26	₹30,676

HDFC Gold Fund SIP Returns

Total investment amount is ₹300,000
expected amount after 5 Years is ₹556,833.
Net Profit of ₹256,833 Invest Now

Returns for HDFC Gold Fund

Returns up to 1 year are on absolute basis & more than 1 year are on CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) basis. as on 8 Sep 26

Duration	Returns
1 Month	2.1%
3 Month	1.3%
6 Month	-3.9%
1 Year	39.5%
3 Year	35.2%
5 Year	24.8%
10 Year
15 Year
Since launch	10.7%

Historical performance (Yearly) on absolute basis

Year	Returns
2025	71.3%
2024	18.9%
2023	14.1%
2022	12.7%
2021	-5.5%
2020	27.5%
2019	21.7%
2018	6.6%
2017	2.8%
2016	10.1%

Fund Manager information for HDFC Gold Fund

Name	Since	Tenure
Arun Agarwal	15 Feb 23	3.46 Yr.
Nandita Menezes	29 Mar 25	1.34 Yr.

Data below for HDFC Gold Fund as on 31 Jul 26

Asset Allocation

Asset Class	Value
Cash	1.46%
Other	98.54%

Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio

Name	Holding	Value	Quantity
HDFC Gold ETF - \| -	100%	₹11,202 Cr	925,647,168 ↑ 5,566,231
Net Current Assets Net Current Assets \| -	0%	-₹10 Cr
Treps - Tri-Party Repo CBLO/Reverse Repo \| -	0%	₹5 Cr

5. Nippon India Gold Savings Fund

The investment objective of the Scheme is to seek to provide returns that closely correspond to returns provided by Reliance ETF Gold BeES.

Research Highlights for Nippon India Gold Savings Fund

Lower mid AUM (₹6,959 Cr).
Established history (15+ yrs).
Rating: 2★ (upper mid).
Risk profile: Moderately High.
5Y return: 24.76% (bottom quartile).
3Y return: 35.35% (bottom quartile).
1Y return: 39.34% (bottom quartile).
1M return: 1.96% (lower mid).
Alpha: 0.00 (bottom quartile).
Sharpe: 1.13 (bottom quartile).
Information ratio: 0.00 (bottom quartile).
Top bond sector: Cash Equivalent.
Largest holding Nippon India ETF Gold BeES (~100.0%).
Top-3 holdings concentration ~100.3%.

Below is the key information for Nippon India Gold Savings Fund

Nippon India Gold Savings Fund Growth
Launch Date	7 Mar 11
NAV (08 Sep 26)	₹57.8623 ↑ 0.12 (0.21 %)
Net Assets (Cr)	₹6,959 on 31 Jul 26
Category	Gold - Gold
AMC	Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd.
Rating	☆☆
Risk	Moderately High
Expense Ratio	0.35
Sharpe Ratio	1.13
Information Ratio	0
Alpha Ratio	0
Min Investment	5,000
Min SIP Investment	100
Exit Load	0-1 Years (2%),1 Years and above(NIL)

Growth of 10,000 investment over the years.

Date	Value
31 Aug 21	₹10,000
31 Aug 22	₹10,706
31 Aug 23	₹12,237
31 Aug 24	₹14,692
31 Aug 25	₹20,596
31 Aug 26	₹30,613

Nippon India Gold Savings Fund SIP Returns

Total investment amount is ₹300,000
expected amount after 5 Years is ₹556,833.
Net Profit of ₹256,833 Invest Now

Returns for Nippon India Gold Savings Fund

Returns up to 1 year are on absolute basis & more than 1 year are on CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) basis. as on 8 Sep 26

Duration	Returns
1 Month	2%
3 Month	1.3%
6 Month	-3.9%
1 Year	39.3%
3 Year	35.3%
5 Year	24.8%
10 Year
15 Year
Since launch	12%

Historical performance (Yearly) on absolute basis

Year	Returns
2025	71.2%
2024	19%
2023	14.3%
2022	12.3%
2021	-5.5%
2020	26.6%
2019	22.5%
2018	6%
2017	1.7%
2016	11.6%

Fund Manager information for Nippon India Gold Savings Fund

Name	Since	Tenure
Himanshu Mange	23 Dec 23	2.61 Yr.

Data below for Nippon India Gold Savings Fund as on 31 Jul 26

Asset Allocation

Asset Class	Value
Cash	1.66%
Other	98.34%

Top Securities Holdings / Portfolio

Name	Holding	Value	Quantity
Nippon India ETF Gold BeES - \| -	100%	₹6,959 Cr	594,220,572 ↑ 3,245,000
Net Current Assets Net Current Assets \| -	0%	-₹11 Cr
Triparty Repo CBLO/Reverse Repo \| -	0%	₹11 Cr
Cash Margin - Ccil CBLO/Reverse Repo \| -	0%	₹0 Cr

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Disclaimer:
All efforts have been made to ensure the information provided here is accurate. However, no guarantees are made regarding correctness of data. Please verify with scheme information document before making any investment.