RBI T-bill auction on 18 November: what Rs 1 lakh earned at the last sale and how to bid

Individuals with a savings account and a PAN can lend to the Union government for as little as three months at the Reserve Bank of India’s next T-bill auction, on Wednesday, 18 November. The RBI will sell Rs 23,000 crore of Treasury bills: Rs 8,000 crore each of 91-day and 182-day bills and Rs 7,000 crore of 364-day bills. The bills are settled on Thursday, 19 November.

A Treasury bill pays no interest: it is sold below face value and repaid in full at maturity, and the gap is the return. At the 11 November auction, the 91-day bill’s weighted average price came to Rs 98.5602 per Rs 100. At that price, a Rs 1 lakh bill cost about Rs 98,560 and is repaid in full after 91 days, a gain of about Rs 1,440. The 364-day bill averaged Rs 93.8091, so a Rs 1 lakh bill cost about Rs 93,809, a gain near Rs 6,191 over the year. The price at the 18 November sale will be set by that day’s bidding.

How it compares with a bank deposit

The 11 November sale produced weighted average yields of 5.86% on the 91-day bill, 6.51% on the 182-day bill and 6.62% on the 364-day bill. State Bank of India’s card rates for the general public, in force since 15 December 2025 and still listed on its website on 15 November, are 4.90% for deposits of 46 to 179 days, 5.65% for 180 to 210 days and 5.90% for 211 days to under a year.

How to bid

Individuals bid non-competitively on the RBI Retail Direct portal, rbiretaildirect.org.in. They do not name a price; the RBI allots their bills at the weighted average set by the competitive bidders. A bid starts at Rs 10,000 of face value and rises in steps of Rs 10,000 up to Rs 2 crore. Each investor may place one bid in each auction.

A Retail Direct Gilt account needs a rupee savings account in India, a PAN, a valid KYC document, an email address and a registered mobile number. There is no fee to open or keep the account or to place a bid.

Retail allotment is capped at 5% of each notified amount, or Rs 400 crore apiece in the 91-day and 182-day bills and Rs 350 crore in the 364-day bill. The RBI’s notice fixes 10.30 am to 11 am on 18 November for non-competitive bids on its E-Kuber system, and results are due the same day. On Retail Direct, a bid has to be funded through UPI or net banking before the portal’s bidding window closes, at an indicative price plus a markup that is refunded after allotment.