Govt to raise ₹23,000 crore via T-bills on October 14
RBI will auction 91-day, 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills worth ₹23,000 crore on October 14, with payment due on October 15.
Official title: Auction of 91-Day, 182-Day and 364-Day Treasury Bills · Press Release 2026-2027/1300
What happened
On the Government of India's behalf, RBI announced a Treasury bill auction for October 14, 2026. The government wants ₹8,000 crore through 91-day bills, ₹8,000 crore through 182-day bills and ₹7,000 crore through 364-day bills, ₹23,000 crore in all.
A Treasury bill is a short loan to the government. You pay a bit less than face value and get the full face value back when it matures. The difference is your interest. Bids are placed on RBI's e-Kuber system and successful bidders pay on October 15.
Individuals can take part through RBI Retail Direct by bidding non-competitively, which means accepting the average rate. Up to 5% of the notified amount is kept for such retail investors. State governments and provident funds can also bid outside the notified amount.
What it means for you
You can buy these bills yourself through RBI Retail Direct for short-term lending to the government. Otherwise there is no direct effect on you.
What it means for businesses
Banks, mutual funds and companies with spare cash use T-bills to park money for a few months. The auction sets short-term government borrowing rates.
Links in this release, explained
- General Notification on sale of Treasury Bills / Government securities (March 26, 2025)
The Government of India's standing rulebook for how its securities are sold at auction: who can bid, how bids are priced and how payment works. Each auction announcement points back to it.
rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/content/pdfs/GOI26032025_1.pdf - Scheme for Non-competitive Bidding Facility in the Auctions of Government Securities
The RBI circular that lets small investors take part in government auctions without naming a price. They are given bonds or bills at the average rate that emerges from the competitive bids. Read it if you want to know the limits and who qualifies.
www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12193&Mode=0 - RBI Retail Direct portal
RBI's free online platform where individuals can open an account and buy government bonds, treasury bills and state bonds directly, with no broker. Start here if you want to invest in these auctions yourself.
rbiretaildirect.org.in - RBI forms page (bid forms)
A page on the RBI website listing downloadable forms. The bid form here is only used on paper if the electronic system fails, so most readers can ignore it.
www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_ViewForms.aspx
Read the original
Press release on rbi.org.in ↗ Official PDF ↗
This explainer simplifies the official text. If anything here differs from the RBI's release, the release is right.