New Delhi, July 17 (IANS): The fourth tranche of the government's sovereign gold bond scheme will open on Monday, an official said here.

"The Ministry of Finance has launched the 4th Tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB) and it will be open for investment by resident individuals and institutional investors from 18th to 22nd July 2016," a release said on Sunday.

The bonds will be issued on August 5, 2016, an official said earlier this week on the matter.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in last year's Union Budget announced developing the Sovereign Gold Bond, as a measure to contain demand for the metal in physical form.

In Budget 2016-17 he has proposed that redemption of sovereign gold bonds by an individual be exempt from capital gains tax.

The bonds will be sold through banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL), designated post offices and recognised stock exchanges, the statement said.

The government received subscriptions of Rs 726 crore for 2,790 kg gold under the second tranche of the scheme in January, while the first tranche launched in November had received a subscription for 915.95 kg of gold worth Rs 246 crore.

In March, the third edition of the scheme, a component of the government's market borrowing programme, received a poorer response getting subscription of 1,128 kg gold, amounting to Rs 329 crore.

The gold bonds are issued in denominations of 5 grams, 10 grams, 50 grams and 100 grams for a term of 5-7 years with a rate of interest to be calculated on the metal's value at the time of investment.

The scheme has an annual ceiling of 500 grams per person.