Govt bonds attracts bids worth Rs. 9,458 cr from FPIs

The Dollar Business Bureau

Government debt securities received bids amounting to Rs.9,458 crore from FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors) in an online auction, against the Rs.9,333 crore on offer.

National Stock Exchange (NSE) conducted the auction on its 'e-bid' platform between 3:30 pm and 5:30 pm, after closing of the market hours. Out of 55 bids, 51 were declared successful, after closing of the two-hour auction.

The quota of debt auction provides foreign investors the right for investment in the debt up to the purchased limit.

Till October 13, the overall investment in government debts had touched Rs.1,38,667 crore, which is around 94 percent of the total allowed limit of Rs.1.48 lakh crore.

In order to allocate the unutilised debt limits amounting to Rs.9,333 crore, the NSE decided to conduct an auction. For this, a session for mock bidding was held on Friday.

In September, an online auction has been conducted in which the debt securities received bids worth Rs.6,821 crore from FPIs against the Rs.4,615 crore on offer.

The market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has raised the investment limit from FPI in government securities to Rs.1.48 lakh crore from October 3 onwards in order to augment inflows of foreign investment into Indian capital markets. This limit will further be raised to Rs.1.52 lakh crore, from January 2, 2017.