When the Vaishno Devi shrine's board dispatched roughly 20 tonnes of silver offerings to a government mint for melting and storage, it turned out that the metal, which was supposed to be silver, contained only 5-6% silver content. The remaining was cheaper metals such as cadmium and iron. According to reports from Mint, the temple board had expected the total value of silver to be in the range of ₹500-550 crore, but it turned out to be only ₹30 crore. The contamination reportedly occurred at the level of jewellers and vendors who sell silver articles in and around this Jammu-based Hindu Shrine.
Experts highlight several key advantages of investing in silver ETFs over physical silver. As reported by Mint, Nilesh D Naik, Head of Investment Products at Share.Market (PhonePe Wealth), states that silver ETFs are clearly a better option because of lower transaction and storage costs, transparency, high liquidity and tax efficiency. Rushabh Kothari, Qualified Financial Advisor at 1 Finance, notes that silver ETFs are difficult to overlook for serious wealth builders, with transparent pricing linked to live market rates and features like Stock SIPs available on modern broking platforms.
The impact of the silver rally on investment in silver ETFs is evident in the substantial growth of assets under management. According to the AMFI monthly note, at the end of March 2026, total assets under management of all silver ETFs in India amounted to ₹79,806 crore, which is more than double the corresponding figure in September 2025, when it stood at ₹36,461 crore. Silver prices in Mumbai on 21 April hit ₹2,515 per 10 grams, compared to trading between ₹1,036 and ₹1,071 in April 2025, delivering a return of 135-142% in the past year.
There are several silver ETFs available in India offered by different fund houses, including Nippon India Silver ETF, ICICI Prudential Silver ETF, HDFC Silver ETF, Tata Silver ETF, Axis Silver ETF and SBI Silver ETF, among others. As reported by Mint, Alekh Yadav, Head of Investment Products at Sanctum Wealth, emphasizes that digital silver is a clear winner for investment purposes, offering advantages over holding physical silver such as no need for storage solutions like lockers or safes, and more convenient buying and selling with lower transaction costs.
