The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Saturday said its Retail Direct Scheme (RDS) has received ‘encouraging response’, clocking over 12,000 registrations since its launch on November 12. The scheme is aimed at facilitating investment in Government Securities (G-Secs) by individual investors.

“Encouraging response to RBI Retail Direct Scheme; 12,000+ registrations as of 2.30 pm on November 13, 2021,” tweeted the central bank.

According to central bank sources, investors in Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs), currently estimated at around 4.50 lakh, are expected to actively invest in G-Secs via RBI-RDS, which is envisaged as a one-stop solution for retail investments in G-Secs.

New investment avenue

Retail investors can invest a minimum of ₹10,000 and in multiples thereof in Central Government Securities (CG), State Government Securities (SG) and Treasury Bills (T-Bills) using the online portal (https://rbiretaildirect.org.in) by opening a Retail Direct Gilt (RDG) account with RBI. In the case of Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB), the minimum investment unit is 1 gram. The maximum investment limit per bid specified by RBI is ₹2 crore for CG/T-Bill and 1 per cent for SG.

Raghvendra Nath, MD, Ladderup Wealth Management, said, “Indian fixed income markets have always been very shallow... From retail investors’ perspective, easy access to government securities was not available before. With the ability to buy the government securities through the RBI, retail investors shall now have the flexibility to invest from 1 year to 30-year periods in a completely risk-free environment.” Nath felt that the RBI should create a mechanism for buying back the G-Secs. If that happens, the portal will immediately attract a lot of interest.

Bond market players said Primary Dealers (PDs) are expected to provide buy-sell quotes so that retail investors can buy and sell G-Secs in the secondary market.

Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, CARE Ratings, emphasised the importance of creating awareness among retail investors. According to the scheme, no fee will be charged for opening and maintaining RDG account with the RBI. Payments for transactions can be made using saving bank account through internet-banking or Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

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