'Where to invest' is one of the most sought after questions. While this may have many answers based on the opinions and mindset of different people, an investor always wants to have assured returns. There are only a few investment instruments in the market which offers an assured return. Some of them are fixed deposits, Public Provident Fund and Government Bonds. So, if you have idle funds lying with you that yield no return, you can consider Government Bond. Investing in Government Bonds comes with the benefits of safety, security as well as assured returns.

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"Government Securities (G-Sec) are issued in the primary market through auctions conducted by Reserve Bank of India (RBI). An investor, depending upon eligibility, may bid in an auction under Competitive Bidding or Non-Competitive Bidding. Institutional investors such as banks, financial institutions, primary dealers, mutual funds, and insurance companies are generally eligible to make competitive bids," says NSE website.
 
It further says that to encourage retail investment in Government Securities (G-Secs), the facility of non-competitive bidding (NCB) has been introduced. Under the scheme, eligible retail investors apply for a certain amount of securities in an auction without mentioning price/yield. Such bidders are allotted securities at the weighted average price/yield of the auction. 

Investing in Government Securities  

Eligible retail investors necessarily have to participate in non-competitive bidding (NCB) at RBI through an aggregator or facilitator. NSE acts as facilitator in NCB to aggregate the bids received from the retail investors and submits a single bid at RBI.  Retail investors have multiple channels through which they can place their bids. Retail investors can place their bids through trading members of NSE or using the NSE goBID mobile app/web platform.

How to invest in government securities?

Retail investors have multiple channels to invest in treasury bills (T-Bills) and Government of India (GoI) dated bonds in the primary market. Retail investors can place their orders through any one of the following options available under the non-competitive bidding facility offered by NSE. 

  Retail investors registered with NSE trading member All Resident Individuals
  Option 1: Through NSE Trading Member Option 2: Through NSE goBID mobile app/web platform Through NSE goBID mobile app/web platform
Eligible Investors All eligible investors as permitted by RBI All eligible investors as permitted by RBI Only resident individuals
KYC Compliance If existing active client of NSE trading member, no additional KYC

New investor should complete KYC with NSE trading member

 If existing active client of NSE trading member, no additional KYC

New investor should complete KYC and register as client with NSE trading member

 No additional KYC if already done through any of SEBI registered intermediary

New investor should complete KYC with any SEBI intermediary
Demat Account Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory
Investor Registration No additional registration required if already having active account with NSE trading member One time registration on NSE goBID platform One time registration on NSE goBID platform
New investor registration on NSE goBID Not applicable Investor selects respective trading member at time of registration*

Registration subject to -
Respective trading member has provided valid investor records to Exchange

Successful validation of investor category, demat and bank account with depositories

* Available only if trading member is registered (See Point 1 below) on NSE goBID

 Investor can register directly without selecting trading member of NSE

Registration subject to -
Valid KYC details of investor available with SEBI registered KRA including mobile number, email address, investor category

Successful validation of demat and bank account with depositories
 
Undertaking by investor Submit to trading member of NSE in format provided by NSE Accept e-undertaking on NSE goBID and Terms & Conditions Accept e-undertaking on NSE goBID platform and Terms & Conditions
Order placement Submit offline or online through mobile app / web platform to the trading member Submit through NSE goBID mobile app / web platform Submit through NSE goBID mobile app / web platform
Bid Only single bid per security in an auction is permitted Only single bid per security in an auction is permitted Only single bid per security in an auction is permitted
       
Payment and refund of funds Payment and refund of funds through trading member Payment and refund of funds through NSE Clearing Ltd. Mandatory to have online banking facility

Funds accepted only from bank account linked to demat account (see point 2 below).

 Payment and refund of funds through NSE Clearing Ltd. Mandatory to have online banking facility

Funds accepted only from bank account linked to demat account (see point 2 below).
Credit of Securities Directly in demat account of investor Directly in demat account of investor Directly in demat account of investor

Key Features of Government Securities

* Securities issued by the Government of India
* Issued through Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Central Government of India
* Treasury bills have maturity of 91 days, 182 days and 365 days
* Treasury bills are zero coupon bonds. They are issued by discount and redeemed at face value
* Government bonds or dated securities have maturities of upto 40 years
* Government bonds pay interest every six months 

Advantages of investing in Government Securities

* Safety: Being Sovereign security, no default risk
* Ease of Exit: Investor can sell the government bonds in the secondary market
* Fixed income investment available across the maturities
* No TDS applicable on interest
* Can be held in existing demat account

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Government Securities (G-Sec) are issued by the Central Government. Such securities are short term (usually called treasury bills, with original maturities of less than one year) or long term (usually called Government bonds or dated securities with original maturity of one year or more).