Centre to borrow Rs 8 lk cr in 1st half of FY26 through dated papers

The borrowing includes ₹10,000 crore through sovereign green bonds.

Experts said the borrowing target aims to enable the government to fund its revenue gap in the first half of 2025-26 without causing any disruption in the bond market. It's also unlikely to crowd out state governments and private players in the debt market, they added.

Yield on the benchmark 10-year securities closed at 6.6022% on Thursday, hitting its lowest in more than three years.

The government has budgeted gross market borrowing of ₹14.82 lakh crore (through dated securities) for 2025-26. Of this, net borrowing is pegged at ₹11.54 lakh crore. It aims to contain its fiscal deficit at 4.4% of gross domestic product during the year, against 4.8% this fiscal. The borrowing in the first half is proposed to be over in 26 weekly tranches of ₹25,000-36,000 crore each, the finance ministry said in a statement.

"As hitherto, all the auctions covered by the (borrowing) calendar will have the facility of non-competitive bidding under which 5% of the notified amount will be reserved for the specified retail investors," the ministry said.