Where to Buy Government Bonds in India?
In November 2021, India opened its $1.1 trillion sovereign bond market to retail investors by launching the 'RBI Retail Direct Scheme'. The government took this step to widen retail participation to fund its massive borrowing program. According to the Union Budget, the central government is planning to borrow Rs. 14.95 lakh crore through the sale of government securities on a gross basis in 2022-23 (April-March), which is a massive amount. Earlier it was challenging for retail investors to buy government bonds; Indian government bond market was predominantly available to institutional investors, like insurance companies, mutual funds, pension funds, etc. However, with the advent of various online platforms like BondsIndia, from where you can invest in different types of bonds such as tax-free bonds, zero coupon bonds, corporate bonds, convertible bonds etc., retail participation has increased drastically.