Govt bonds short of the crease, FPIs bid for Rs 16,708-cr

Government debt securities attracted bids worth Rs 16,708 crore from foreign investors as against Rs 18,437 crore on offer in an online auction today.
The auction was conducted on BSE's 'ebidXchange' platform from 1530 hours to 1730 hours after the close of market hours. At the end of the two-hour auction, all the 33 bids were declared successful.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have bid for investment limits in government debt securities worth Rs 16,708 crore (USD 2.6 billion) as against Rs 18,437 crore (USD 2.8 billion) on offer, exchange data showed.
The bonds to the tune of Rs 1,729 crore were left unsubscribed after the auction.

The debt quota gives overseas investors the right to invest in the debt, up to the limit purchased.
This was the first auction in seven months. Prior to that, an auction for government bonds to the tune of Rs 22,171 crore was conducted in November 2016. The securities had attracted bids worth Rs 12,287 crore.
To boost inflows of foreign funds into Indian capital markets, regulator Sebi in April raised the FPI investment limit in central government securities to Rs 1.85 lakh crore from Rs 1.52 lakh crore.