🏦 Loans & EMI

Gold Loan Calculator

Enter the weight and purity of your gold to see the maximum loan RBI's tiered LTV rules allow, and what it costs to repay by EMI or as a single bullet payment.

Your gold and your loan
Valuation counts the metal only — stones and gems are worth nothing here
Your maximum loan
At the LTV ceiling RBI allows for this loan size

What your gold is actually worth to a lender

A gold loan is secured lending against jewellery, and the amount you can raise comes down to two numbers: what the lender says your gold is worth, and what percentage of that they are allowed to lend. Both are now set by the RBI (Lending Against Gold and Silver Collateral) Directions, 2025, which came fully into force on 1 April 2026.

The valuation rule is stricter than most people expect:

gold value = weight in grams × purity × 24K rate per gram

Stones and gems are valued at zero. The Directions say only "the intrinsic value of the gold… shall be reckoned and no other cost elements, such as precious stones or gems, shall be added thereto". A necklace that cost ₹4 lakh with its stones might carry ₹2.5 lakh of actual gold, and only that ₹2.5 lakh counts. Making charges count for nothing too. This is the single most common surprise at the counter.

One more subtlety in your lender's favour: they must value gold at the lower of the 30-day average closing price or the previous day's close, taken from IBJA or a SEBI-regulated exchange. So in a rising market your assessed value trails spot, and any calculator using today's spot price — including this one, if you enter spot — will be slightly optimistic.

The LTV is no longer a flat 75%

This is the part most gold loan calculators still have wrong. Until April 2026 every gold loan was capped at 75% loan-to-value. It is now tiered by the size of the loan:

Loan amountMaximum LTV
Up to ₹2,50,00085%
Above ₹2,50,000 and up to ₹5,00,00080%
Above ₹5,00,00075%

For small borrowers this is a real improvement — ten percentage points more gold value unlocked than under the old flat rule. If a calculator tells you 50g of 22K gets you exactly 75%, it has not been updated.

The dead zones nobody mentions

Read the table again and note what it is keyed on: the loan amount, not the gold value. That creates two bands where pledging more gold gets you nothing at all.

Take 20g of 22K gold at ₹15,500. That is ₹2,83,960 of metal, and 85% of it is ₹2,41,366 — comfortably inside tier one.

Now add two grams. You have ₹3,12,356 of gold. But 85% of that is ₹2,65,503, which breaches the ₹2.5 lakh ceiling on the 85% tier — so you cannot have it. Drop to the 80% tier and you get ₹2,49,885, which fails to clear that tier's "above ₹2.5 lakh" floor. The best you can legally borrow is exactly ₹2,50,000.

Those two extra grams — about ₹28,000 of gold — raised your loan by ₹8,634. Push a little further and the returns are worse still:

Gold valueMaximum loanEffective LTV
₹2,94,118₹2,50,00085.0%
₹3,00,000₹2,50,00083.3%
₹3,12,500₹2,50,00080.0%
₹3,20,000₹2,56,00080.0%

Between ₹2,94,118 and ₹3,12,500 of gold value the loan is pinned at ₹2,50,000 — roughly ₹18,000 of gold that buys you nothing. The same happens at the ₹5 lakh boundary, where gold between ₹6,25,000 and ₹6,66,667 all yields exactly ₹5,00,000.

The practical takeaway: if you land in a dead zone, keep the extra jewellery at home. It is not raising your loan, and pledged gold is gold you cannot access.

Bullet, EMI, or interest-only?

Most gold loan calculators only model an EMI, which is odd, because the bullet structure is the one gold lenders actually push hardest.

  • Bullet — you pay nothing at all during the term and settle principal plus accrued interest at the end. Cheap on cash flow, and the most expensive in total, because nothing reduces the balance. This calculator compounds monthly; some lenders charge simple interest on bullet schemes, which works out cheaper, so check your sanction letter.
  • EMI — equal instalments, balance falls each month, lowest total interest of the three.
  • Monthly interest, principal at end — a middle path. You service the interest so it never compounds, then repay the principal as a lump.

On ₹2,50,000 for a year at 12%, bullet costs ₹31,706 in interest, interest-only costs ₹30,000, and an EMI costs ₹16,546. The EMI is roughly half the cost of bullet — for the same loan, at the same rate, over the same term. The difference is entirely down to when you hand the money back.

Gold loan or personal loan?

Gold loans are usually cheaper than an unsecured personal loan because there is collateral: expect 9–15% at a bank against 11–24% unsecured. They are also faster, need no credit score, and are available to people with no formal income proof.

What you are trading is risk. Miss the repayments and the gold is auctioned — RBI requires notice first, but the outcome is that jewellery with family significance is gone. Do not pledge what you could not bear to lose, and be honest about the tenure: a 3-month bullet loan you cannot clear turns into a rollover, and rollovers are where gold loans get expensive.

Rules worth knowing before you go

  • 1 kg cap. The aggregate weight of ornaments pledged across all your loans with a lender cannot exceed 1,000 grams. Coins are capped separately at 50 grams.
  • LTV must hold for the whole tenor, not just at sanction. If gold prices fall sharply your lender can call for a top-up — a real risk on longer bullet loans.
  • You cannot borrow to buy gold. The September 2025 amendment made explicit that loans against gold cannot fund the purchase of more gold, gold ETFs or gold mutual funds.
  • Compare the all-in cost, not the headline rate. Processing fees, valuation charges and prepayment penalties vary far more between gold lenders than the interest rate does.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much loan can I get on 50 grams of gold?
At 22K purity and a 24K rate of ₹15,500 per gram, 50 grams is about ₹7,09,900 of metal. Because that puts the loan above ₹5 lakh, the 75% LTV tier applies and the maximum is roughly ₹5,32,425. Change the rate above to today's price for a current figure.
What is the maximum LTV on a gold loan in 2026?
It depends on the loan size. Since RBI's Directions took effect on 1 April 2026 it is 85% for loans up to ₹2.5 lakh, 80% from there to ₹5 lakh, and 75% above ₹5 lakh. The old flat 75% cap no longer applies, and calculators still showing it understate small loans.
Do the stones in my jewellery count towards the loan?
No. RBI's Directions state that only the intrinsic value of the gold is counted and that no other cost elements, including precious stones or gems, may be added. Making charges are excluded too. A heavily stone-set piece can be worth far less as collateral than you paid for it.
Why does more gold sometimes not increase my loan?
Because the LTV tier is set by the loan amount, not the gold value, the tier ceilings create dead zones. Between roughly ₹2,94,000 and ₹3,12,500 of gold value the maximum loan is pinned at exactly ₹2,50,000, so any gold in that band adds nothing. The same happens between ₹6,25,000 and ₹6,66,667 at the ₹5 lakh boundary.
What is bullet repayment on a gold loan?
You pay nothing during the term and clear the principal plus all accrued interest in a single payment at maturity. It is the most common gold loan structure and the easiest on monthly cash flow, but the most expensive overall — on ₹2.5 lakh for a year at 12% it costs ₹31,706 against ₹16,546 on an EMI.
Is a gold loan cheaper than a personal loan?
Usually yes. Because the loan is secured, banks commonly price gold loans at 9–15% against 11–24% for unsecured personal loans, and they need no credit score or income proof. The trade-off is that defaulting means your jewellery is auctioned.
How much gold can I pledge?
RBI caps the aggregate weight of ornaments pledged across all your loans with a lender at 1,000 grams, with a separate 50 gram limit on gold coins. There is no rupee ceiling on the loan itself beyond what the LTV allows.
What happens if gold prices fall during my loan?
The prescribed LTV has to be maintained throughout the tenor, not just at sanction, so a sharp fall can trigger a demand for partial repayment or additional collateral. This is a genuine risk on longer bullet loans, where the balance is growing while the security may be shrinking.

Sources

Every statutory figure on this page is taken from the primary source below. Rates and thresholds change by notification — if you are filing, check the source for the current position.

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