Govt bonds over-subscribed; FPIs bid worth Rs 7,093 crore

New Delhi: Signalling robust demand for the government bonds, an auction of debt securities Monday attracted bids of staggering Rs 7,093 crore from foreign investors, more than double than securities put on offer.

The auction, which was held on NSE's ebid-platform for allocation of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) investment limits in government debt securities worth Rs 3,476 crore (USD 513 million), saw bids for Rs 7,093 crore (USD 1.05 billion), according to the bourse.

At the end of two-hour auction this evening, 31 bids were declared successful, as per the information available with National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The debt auction quota gives overseas investors the right to invest in bonds, up to the limit purchased.

A mock bidding session was conducted on Friday to check the system's performance.

Depository data showed that total investments, including limits acquired by foreign investors through the auction route, stood at Rs 1,31,924 crore till Friday, which was 97.43 percent of the total permitted investment limit of Rs 1,35,400 crore in government debt securities.

Consequently, the exchange had decided to conduct an auction for the allocation of unutilised debt limits.

During earlier auctions, government bonds were subscribed multiple times, given the huge interest among foreign investors.

The limit for overseas investors in securities was hiked to Rs 1,29,900 crore from October 12 and it was further increased to Rs 1,35,400 crore from January 1, 2016.

Prior to October limit, they were allowed to invest up to Rs 1,24,432 crore in government debt securities through auction.