The Government of India has announced a conversion, or switch, of government securities through an auction for an aggregate face value of ₹30,000 crore. The Reserve Bank of India issued the auction details in a press release dated August 12, 2026.
The auction is scheduled for August 17, 2026, which falls on a Monday. Bids will be accepted electronically on the RBI’s Core Banking Solution platform, e-Kuber, between 10:30 AM and 11:30 AM. The result will be declared on the same day, and settlement will take place on August 18, 2026.
What the switch auction covers
In a switch auction, market participants agree to sell specified source securities to the Government of India and, at the same time, buy specified destination securities from the government. The auction announced by the government covers nine source securities with different maturity dates.
The notified source securities and corresponding destination securities are:
- 8.26% GS 2027, maturing on August 2, 2027, for ₹2,000 crore, to be switched into 7.19% GS 2060, maturing on September 15, 2060.
- 7.17% GS 2028, maturing on January 8, 2028, for ₹3,000 crore, to be switched into 6.64% GS 2035, maturing on June 16, 2035.
- 7.06% GS 2028, maturing on April 10, 2028, for ₹4,000 crore, to be switched into 6.83% GS 2039, maturing on January 19, 2039.
- 7.37% GS 2028, maturing on October 23, 2028, for ₹3,000 crore, to be switched into 7.10% GS 2034, maturing on April 8, 2034.
- 7.26% GS 2029, maturing on January 14, 2029, for ₹3,000 crore, to be switched into 6.64% GS 2035, maturing on June 16, 2035.
- 7.10% GS 2029, maturing on April 18, 2029, for ₹3,000 crore, to be switched into 7.50% GS 2034, maturing on August 10, 2034.
- 7.10% GS 2029, maturing on April 18, 2029, for ₹5,000 crore, to be switched into 7.62% GS 2039, maturing on September 15, 2039.
- 6.45% GS 2029, maturing on October 7, 2029, for ₹2,000 crore, to be switched into 7.10% GS 2034, maturing on April 8, 2034.
- 7.88% GS 2030, maturing on March 19, 2030, for ₹5,000 crore, to be switched into 6.67% GS 2035, maturing on December 15, 2035.
Bidding process on e-Kuber
Market participants must place bids through the Switch Transaction module on the e-Kuber portal. Each bid has to mention the face value amount of the source security being offered, the price of the source security, the chosen destination security, and the price of that destination security. Prices must be quoted in Indian rupees up to two decimal places.
The minimum bid size is ₹10,000, and further bids must be in multiples of ₹10,000. Participants may submit multiple bids, but the total bids for a source security or basket of source securities cannot exceed the notified auction amount. Participants also cannot bid for more than their holdings of the relevant source security in face value terms.
The RBI release states that the price quoted for the source security must be equal to the FBIL closing price of that security on the previous working day. Bids that do not follow this condition for the source security will be rejected.
How bids will be accepted
The auction will be conducted on a multiple-price basis. This means successful bids will be accepted at the respective prices quoted by participants for the source and destination securities.
The auction cut-off will be decided on the basis of the price of the destination securities. Bidders who quote at or above the cut-off price will be treated as successful. Bids below the cut-off price will be rejected. If more than one successful bid is placed at the cut-off price, pro-rata allotment may be used.
The government has also reserved the right to accept offers for less than the notified amount, purchase marginally more than the notified amount because of rounding-off, and accept or reject offers either fully or partly without giving any reason.
Settlement and rounding-off rules
The settlement will be held on a T+1 basis. Since the auction is a switch transaction, the conversion is expected to be broadly cash neutral. However, fund settlement will be done for net accrued interest and for any cash consideration arising from rounding-off the face value of destination securities.
The switch ratio will be calculated as the ratio of the source security price to the destination security price and rounded off to eight decimal places. The face value of the destination security issued for each successful bid will then be rounded down to the nearest multiple of ₹10,000. Any odd amount below ₹10,000 will be notionally allotted and bought back at the quoted destination security price.
For technical difficulties, the release directs participants to contact the Core Banking Operations Team at 022-69870466 or 022-69870415. For auction-related issues, the IDMD auction team can be contacted at 022-22702431 or 22705125.
Source: Reserve Bank of India Press Releases.