RBI Accepts No Bids in T-Bill Auction as 10-Year Yield Hits 7.44%

The Reserve Bank of India accepted no bids at its treasury bill auction on Wednesday, 21 October, leaving the government without the ₹23,000 crore it had offered in 91-day, 182-day and 364-day bills, according to the auction results reported by ANI and The Tribune. The 10-year government bond yield rose to about 7.44% the same day. The RBI’s results did not give a reason.

The central bank had notified ₹8,000 crore each in the 91-day and 182-day bills and ₹7,000 crore in the 364-day bill. Bids came in well above those sizes: 67 competitive bids worth ₹15,366.60 crore for the 91-day bill, 63 worth ₹18,925.50 crore for the 182-day and 75 worth ₹11,352.50 crore for the 364-day. Non-competitive bids added ₹12,028.76 crore, ₹1,712.42 crore and ₹1,683.57 crore. None was accepted, and no cut-off yields were announced.

No Direct Change for Savers and Borrowers

Treasury bills are short-term government borrowing, so ordinary depositors see no immediate change. The signal is for the bond market. The 10-year yield, which sets the tone for government and corporate borrowing costs, is up about 4 basis points on the day, roughly 40 basis points over a month and about 90 over a year, the reports said. Bloomberg described the auction as coming amid a bond selloff.

A Rejection Seen Before in March

This is not the first time the RBI has turned away every bid. On 25 March 2026 it rejected all bids for ₹35,000 crore of bills, which dealers told Business Standard was because bidders wanted higher yields than the RBI was ready to signal, with year-end liquidity also in mind. In February 2025 it cancelled the 91-day and 182-day auctions but not the 364-day one.

What to Watch at the Next Auction

The government can re-offer the bills in the next weekly auction, and the RBI has not said what it will do. The things to watch are the cut-off yields at that sale and whether the 10-year yield holds above 7.4%. Earlier IPB reports on market activity include the Jio Platforms IPO and the India-US trade deal talks; more is in Daily Updates.

Source: Based on reporting by The Tribune (ANI), Bloomberg and Business Standard.

Image: Business Standard / RBI.