Much to the shock of millions of devotees, most silver coins offered at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir were found to be fake.
When the temple 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 were cheaper metals such as cadmium and iron.
Is the digital version better than physical silver?
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.
This startling discovery has raised a pertinent question: should you – as an investor – rely more on the digital form of the precious metal rather than its physical version?
We spoke to some experts, and this is what they had to say.
Digital over physical
Although experts do not give an unequivocal thumbs- up to digital silver, they highlight some of the key advantages of investing in silver ETFs.
They argue that the digital version is safer because investors do not need to worry about storage or purity. If you want to invest in silver in large quantities, you may have to rent a locker for safe storage. This adds to the maintenance cost, not to mention the risk of theft and loss. To prevent this, if you buy insurance, it would further escalate your cash outflow.
On the other hand, the digital version of silver tracks the real prices in the market. So, you practically make the most of the rally in prices without having to bear the maintenance cost.
“As an investment avenue, silver ETFs are clearly a better option because of lower transaction and storage costs, transparency, high liquidity and tax efficiency. In silver ETFs, investors do not incur the cost related to making charges, storage and GST. There’s only a small annual expense and brokerage or demat cost,” says Nilesh D Naik, Head of Investment Products, Share.Market (PhonePe Wealth).
Rushabh Kothari, Qualified Financial Advisor, 1 Finance, echoes a similar sentiment when he says, “For those serious about building wealth, Silver ETFs are difficult to overlook. Pricing is transparent, linked to live market rates, and with features like Stock SIPs available on modern broking platforms, investors can allocate systematically each month without the need of visiting a store.”
Alekh Yadav, Head of Investment Products at Sanctum Wealth, opines that digital silver is a clear winner if the purpose is only to invest. “If buying silver is for investment purposes, digital silver is better. Investing in silver digitally offers several advantages over holding it physically. With digital silver, there’s no need for storage solutions like lockers or safes. It’s also more convenient to buy and sell, often with lower transaction costs since you avoid making charges and dealer margins,” says Yadav.
Silver ETFs
One of the most effective ways to invest in digital silver is through silver ETFs. There are a slew of silver ETFs 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.
Thanks to the massive rally in silver prices, the inflows into silver ETFs have spiked substantially in the past few months. Silver prices in Mumbai on 21 April hit ₹2,515 per 10 grams. In April 2025, the bullion traded between ₹1,036 and ₹1,071. This means the precious metal has delivered a return of 135-142% in the past year.
The rally’s impact on investment in silver ETFs is evident. At the end of March 2026, total assets under management (AUM) of all silver ETFs in India reached ₹79,806 crore, which is more than double the corresponding figure in September 2025, when it stood at ₹36,461 crore, as per the AMFI monthly note.
