Leading stock exchange BSE said its online bidding platform for sovereign gold bond scheme 2018-19 will be open for subscription from Monday, running up to five tranches till February.

"BSE's online bidding platform for SGB 2018-19 - series 2 will be open for subscription from Monday, October 15 to October 19, 2018, for trading members to subscribe to the issue for their clients," the exchange said in a circular.

The sovereign gold bonds (SGB) will be issued every month from October 2018 to February 2019.

According to the exchange, series III will be available for public subscription from November 5-9, series IV December 24-28, series V January 14-18 and series VI February 4-8.

For the current fiscal, the first tranche of the SGB and its subscription was opened on April 16.

SGBs are government securities denominated in multiples of gram of gold.

Investors can buy these bonds through authorised Sebi brokers. These bonds are issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on behalf of the government and are traded on the stock exchanges.

The exchange said that quantity of gold for which the investor pays is protected, since they receive the ongoing market price at the time of redemption or premature redemption.

The SGB offers a superior alternative for holding gold in a physical form and the risks and costs of storage are eliminated. Investors are assured of the market value of gold at the time of maturity and periodical interest.

SGB is free from issues like making charges and purity in the case of gold in jewellery form and these bonds are held in demat form eliminating risk of loss of scrip among others.