RBI subsumes debt voluntary route investment limits under general route
This story was originally published at 19:02 IST on 6 February 2026
Register to read our real-time news.Informist, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026
MUMBAI – The Reserve Bank of India Friday said that investments under the voluntary retention route will now be reckoned under the limit for foreign portfolio investor investments under the general route.
Starting Apr. 1, all investments through the voluntary retention route in central government securities, state government securities, and corporate debt securities will be counted toward the investment limit for the respective securities under the general route, as set by the central bank. All existing investments under the voluntary retention route on Apr. 1 will be transferred to the respective investment limits under the general route, the central bank said.
The RBI introduced the voluntary retention route in March 2019 to provide an additional channel for FPIs with long-term investment interests in Indian debt markets. This route has been witnessing active investment by FPIs, and over 80% of the current investment limit of INR 2.5 trillion has been utilised, the RBI said.
"With a view to ensuring predictability about the availability of investment limits under the voluntary retention route and to further increase ease of doing business, it has been decided that investments under the voluntary retention route shall now be reckoned under the limit for FPI investments under the general route," RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said Friday.
FPIs that have availed retention periods longer than the minimum retention period will have the option to liquidate their portfolio, fully or partly, and exit the voluntary retention route after the end of the minimum retention period, the RBI said. End
Reported by Shubham Rana
Edited by Saji George Titus
For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.
Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.
Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000
Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com
© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.
To read more please subscribe
Share this Story:
