Government has received an overwhelming response from the retail investors for Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme, SGBS. An official statement said, 63 thousand applications have been received for a total of over 200 crore rupees by the banks and post offices for 917 kilos of Gold.The Ministry has taken a number of decisions to improve the reach of Gold Monetisation Scheme. Gold depositors can now give their Gold directly to refiner without involving collection and purity testing centres wherever acceptable to banks. This will encourage the bulk depositors to participate in the Gold Monetisation Scheme. A circular clarifying the tax treatment clauses on the scheme is being published to clarify that, tax exemptions on Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax would be available to the customers.Bureau of Indian Standards, BIS, is expected to complete the registration of 55 numbers of Collection and Purity Testing Centres by the end of December this year.