RBI T-bill auction sees healthy demand across 91-, 182- and 364-day tenors

India’s short-term government securities market saw steady participation in the latest Treasury Bill (T-bill) auction, as per the Reserve Bank of India’s full auction results. Demand remained healthy across all three maturities—91-day, 182-day and 364-day—highlighting continued appetite for safe, liquid instruments from a wide set of investors.

T-bills are issued at a discount to face value and redeemed at par, with the effective return reflected in the yield. For many institutions, they are a core tool for parking funds, managing liquidity and meeting regulatory needs in a transparent, market-based way.

Strong bidding interest across all maturities The notified amounts for the auction were ₹9,000 crore (91-day), ₹8,000 crore (182-day) and ₹7,000 crore (364-day). Competitive bids received were significantly higher than the notified amounts across the board.

• **91-day**: 100 competitive bids were received for **₹23,597.820 crore**.
• **182-day**: 129 competitive bids were received for **₹23,460.450 crore**.
• **364-day**: 139 competitive bids were received for **₹23,241.700 crore**.

This level of oversubscription indicates broad-based interest in short-duration government paper. In practical terms, it supports orderly price discovery and helps keep short-term borrowing for the government anchored to market conditions.

Cut-off yields and weighted averages: what the numbers show The cut-off price and yield (YTM) give a snapshot of where the market cleared for each maturity.

• **91-day T-bill**: cut-off price **₹98.6827** with **YTM 5.3542%**. The **weighted average price (WAP)** was **₹98.6855** with **weighted average yield (WAY) 5.3427%**.
• **182-day T-bill**: cut-off price **₹97.2789** with **YTM 5.6098%**. The **WAP** was **₹97.2852** with **WAY 5.5964%**.
• **364-day T-bill**: cut-off price **₹94.5634** with **YTM 5.7650%**. The **WAP** was **₹94.5798** with **WAY 5.7466%**.

The gradual rise in yields from the 91-day to the 364-day paper is typical, reflecting the additional time value and uncertainty investors price in for longer maturities. The close alignment between cut-off yields and weighted averages suggests a relatively smooth auction outcome without sharp dispersion.

Allocations: competitive and non-competitive participation On the competitive side, bids accepted were:

• **91-day**: 48 bids accepted for **₹8,550.000 crore**
• **182-day**: 68 bids accepted for **₹7,600.000 crore**
• **364-day**: 80 bids accepted for **₹6,650.000 crore**

Partial allotment was reported for a small number of bids in each tenor, with partial allotment percentages of **59.6240** (two bids) for the 91-day, **25.8317** (two bids) for the 182-day, and **76.1944** (five bids) for the 364-day.

Non-competitive bids—often used by eligible smaller participants to access T-bills without quoting yield—also saw meaningful participation:

• **Non-competitive bids received**: 8 bids for **₹6,742.973 crore** (91-day), 4 bids for **₹1,214.570 crore** (182-day), and 4 bids for **₹360.619 crore** (364-day).
• **Non-competitive bids accepted**: **₹6,727.040 crore**, **₹1,200.000 crore**, and **₹350.000 crore** respectively.

The non-competitive partial allotment percentages were **96.5804** (91-day), **96.4855** (182-day) and **97.0553** (364-day), pointing to high acceptance levels.

**Why it matters:** Healthy T-bill demand supports stable short-term funding for the government and strengthens money-market benchmarks. For banks, mutual funds and other investors, clear auction outcomes and transparent yields help plan liquidity, pricing and risk management with greater confidence.