HDFC Bank to start silver bar trade from May 16

Buoyed by the success of its yellow metal retail, HDFC Bank is all set to venture into silver bar trade from next week.

"We will be selling silver bars from our branches starting from the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya (May 16)," HDFC Bank retail liabilities products group head Seshan
Ramakrishnan told PTI.

HDFC Bank would be the first in the country to retail silver bars through its branches, he claimed.

To start with, the bank is launching 50 gram denomination silver bars, he said, adding, the bank can roll out other denominations in the future based on response. The bank is already one of the leading players in the gold coins trade. Currently, gold coins are being sold through 1,400 branches across and last year on the Akshaya Tritiya day it sold 440 kg of gold, he said. The gold coin market in the country is estimated to be about 80 tonne.

Asked about the rationale of venturing into silver bar retail, Ramakrishnan said, there is huge demand of silver as gift item as well as investment item after gold. In fact, India is one of the largest consumers of silver in the world.

However, the silver market remains largely unorganised with reliability and convenience remaining the key issues for silver buyers, he said.