How do I buy G-secs and SDLs?

New G-secs and SDLs are sold in RBI auctions, and retail investors take part as non-competitive bidders: you name an amount, not a price, and you are allotted at the weighted average price of the auction (NSE non-competitive bidding). The minimum is ₹10,000 face value, and the cap is ₹2 crore face value per security per auction for dated Government of India securities (HDFC Securities). Bonds that are already trading can be bought on the NSE or BSE order book through any broker, or on RBI's NDS-OM through Retail Direct.

Where can I place a bid, and what does it cost?

Route	Fee on a primary bid	Where the security sits
RBI Retail Direct	No account fee and no bidding fee; payment gateway charges are yours	Gilt account with RBI
Zerodha	Fee waived from 1st Mar 2024	Your demat
Fyers	No brokerage on G-secs, T-bills or SDLs	Your demat
Upstox	0.06% of allotment plus 18% GST, and a ₹20 plus GST DP fee	Your demat
HDFC Securities	0.06% (6 paise per ₹100)	Your demat

Sources: RBI, Zerodha staff on TradingQnA, Fyers, Upstox, HDFC Securities. On a ₹1 lakh allotment, 0.06% plus 18% GST comes to about ₹71.

When are the bid windows?

Each broker closes its window before RBI's auction. As an example, Fyers' cut-offs (updated 24th Sep 2026) run from Tuesday 10:00 to Thursday 16:00 for G-secs, for an auction on Friday that settles on Monday, and on Monday from 10:00 to 17:00 for SDLs, for an auction on Tuesday that settles on Wednesday (Fyers). Retail Direct takes 1 bid per security, paid by net banking or UPI (RBI). NSE's goBID mobile app was discontinued from 30th Jul 2025; the goBID web portal continues (NSE circular IPO69351).

Auction dates are the most read bond content on TradingQnA: the G-sec issuance calendar thread has 387,460 views (TradingQnA) and the SDL calendar 144,652 (TradingQnA).

How do I buy a G-sec or SDL that is already trading?

• Exchange order book, through any broker. G-secs trade inclusive of accrued interest, the dirty price, under NSE circular NSE/CMTR/39581 of 4th Dec 2018, and SDLs under NSE/CMTR/45096 of 22nd Jul 2020 (NSE circulars). Order books are thin, so a limit order protects you from a poor fill, and the same bond can quote differently on NSE and BSE. STT does not apply to G-secs (Zerodha support) and stamp duty on a government security transfer is 0% (Vinod Kothari).
• NDS-OM through Retail Direct. You trade in the odd lot and request for quote segments, and sale proceeds go to your linked bank account (RBI).
• Bond platforms. Several SEBI registered platforms, including GoldenPi, Bondbazaar and Altifi, list G-secs and SDLs (GoldenPi, Bondbazaar founder interview, Altifi). Their quotes can carry the platform's own spread, which no platform itemises.

What do first-time buyers get wrong?

A price above 100 is not overpriced by itself. A TradingQnA thread titled "7.33% GS 2026 seems overpriced at 105.77" has 6,543 views (TradingQnA). A bond whose coupon is above today's market yields trades above face value; what you earn is the yield at the price you pay, not the coupon.

Government backing removes default risk, not price risk. If yields rise and you sell before maturity, you can get less than you paid, which is why forum users ask why long dated G-secs trade below 100 (TradingQnA). Held to maturity, you receive face value.