New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) The government announced on Friday that, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it has decided to borrow Rs 8.20 lakh crore during the first half (H1) of the financial year 2026-27.

Gross market borrowing in the Budget Estimate (BE) 2026-27 was fixed at Rs 17.20 lakh crore.

Since the presentation of the Budget, switches of G-Sec were conducted, reducing gross market borrowing to Rs 16.09 lakh crore. As much as Rs 8.20 lakh crore, which works out to 51 per cent of the total amount, is planned to be borrowed in the first half (April-September) of the financial year 2026-27. The borrowing will be done through issuance of dated securities, including Rs 15,000 crore of Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs), the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The Gross Market Borrowings of Rs 8.20 lakh crore shall be completed through 26 weekly auctions. The market borrowing will be spread over 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 30, 40 and 50-year securities. The share of borrowing (including SGrBs) under different maturities will be: 3-year (8.1 per cent), 5-year (15.4 per cent), 7-year (8.1 per cent), 10-year (29.0 per cent), 15-year (14.5 per cent), 30-year (7.3 per cent), 40-year (8.0 per cent) and 50-year (9.6 per cent), the statement said.

The government will also carry out a buyback of securities to smooth the redemption profile.

It will continue to reserve the right to exercise the greenshoe option to retain an additional subscription of up to Rs 2,000 crore against each of the securities indicated in the auction notifications, the statement added.

Weekly borrowing through issuance of Treasury Bills (T-Bills) in the first quarter (Q1) of FY 2026-27 is expected to be Rs 24,000 crore for 12 weeks with issuance of Rs 12,000 crore under 91-day T-Bills, Rs 6,000 crore under 182-day T-Bills and Rs 6,000 crore under 364- day T-Bills, the statement said.

To take care of temporary mismatches in government accounts, the RBI has fixed the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) limit for H1 of FY 2026-27 at Rs 2.50 lakh crore, the statement added.

--IANS

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