Your gold is not safe in your bank locker. This is because in case of flooding, earthquake or any natural disaster, the bank owes you absolutely nothing for the damage caused to your valuables. Zero compensation, zero liability because the value of your gold in the locker is not recorded by your bank.
And even if a bank makes a mistake, like let's say there's a theft, its liabilities cap at just 100 times your annual locker rate. So if you're paying 4000 per year, you only get 4 lakhs as compensation. Even if the gold you're storing in the lockers is worth much more, like say 50 lakhs.
Here's what you can do instead. For any old gold that you're not using, deposit it under the gold monetization scheme. This way, there's an actual record of its value and purity. And plus under it, you actually earn up to 0.6% interest annually on the value of your gold instead of paying an annual locker rate.
And if you're only holding gold purely as an investment, then you can hold ETFs, mutual funds or even sovereign gold bonds. All of them are a good means of investment when it comes to gold.