Guides
Plain explanations of how Indian fixed income works. The aim is to be correct enough for practitioners and clear enough for first-timers, with no sales pitch anywhere.
Fixed Income for Beginners: Where to Start in India (Ranked by How Safe It Is)
A plain-English starting map for Indian fixed income, covering every safe option from bank FDs and government bonds to corporate NCDs, ranked by how guaranteed the returns are.
ConceptsWhen Indian Bonds Went Wrong: IL&FS, DHFL, Franklin and What They Cost Investors
India's major fixed-income blowups, from IL&FS and DHFL to Yes Bank AT1, Franklin Templeton and SREI: what happened, what investors recovered, and the five portfolio rules the history leaves behind.
StrategyThe 10 Bond Investing Mistakes Indians Actually Make (Ranked by Damage)
The recurring, expensive errors in Indian fixed income, from chasing coupons and ignoring post-tax math to duration accidents and concentration, each with the fix and the tool that prevents it.
ConceptsThe Bond Jargon Decoder: What Platforms Say vs What They Mean
A translation guide for the 20 phrases you'll meet while buying bonds in India: what each term technically means, and the sales subtext sitting inside it.
StrategyBonds vs Debt Funds After the Tax Change: The 2026 Decision Framework
Direct bonds against debt mutual funds now that fund gains are taxed at slab: where each wins on taxes, liquidity, credit diversification and control, with the math that changed in 2023.
ConceptsCredit Ratings in India: What AAA Promises, and What It Doesn't
How to read CRISIL, ICRA and CARE ratings on bonds and NCDs: the scale decoded, what the yield gap between AAA and AA pays for, and the IL&FS lesson about treating ratings as guarantees.
ConceptsDuration, For Normal People: The Bond Number That Predicts Your Pain
Duration explained without calculus: what modified duration means in rupees, how to check any bond or fund's number in seconds, and the three duration decisions every investor faces.
StrategyThe T-Bill Emergency Fund: A Rolling 91-Day Ladder That Beats Your Savings Account
Step-by-step system for parking an emergency fund in rolling 91-day T-bills: the structure, week-by-week setup, when it beats liquid funds and sweep FDs, and its honest limits.
StrategyGilt Funds vs Buying G-secs Directly: The 10-Year Cost of Convenience
Both hold the same government bonds. One charges around 0.5% a year and never matures, the other is free with a fixed maturity date. What the expense ratio costs, and when each makes sense.
ProductsSovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs): Same Credit, Green Label, Slightly Lower Yield
India's sovereign green bonds explained: how SGrBs work, what the 'greenium' costs you, how the proceeds framework operates, and who should and shouldn't accept the trade.
PlatformsHow OBPP Platforms Work: SEBI's Framework, Settlement, and Your Protections
What happens behind the screen when you buy a bond on an OBPP: the SEBI registration regime, RFQ execution, exchange clearing and demat custody, plus which risks the framework does and doesn't remove.
StrategyMonthly Income from Bonds in India: The Honest Menu
Every realistic way to engineer a monthly payout from fixed income: monthly-coupon NCDs, staggered G-secs, SCSS, FRSB and annuities, with the yields, taxes and traps of each.
StrategyThe Senior Citizen's Fixed Income Menu (2026): SCSS, FRSB, G-secs and Annuities, In Order
An ordered plan for retirees' safe money: SCSS at 8.2%, FRSB at 8.05%, senior-citizen FDs, G-sec ladders and annuities. Who gets what, in which sequence, with the tax treatment done properly.
ProductsG-sec STRIPS: The Overlooked Instrument for Goal-Dated Money
STRIPS turn a G-sec's coupons and principal into individual sovereign zero-coupon securities, which makes them clean building blocks for dated goals. How they work, how to buy, taxation notes and the liquidity catch.
ConceptsWhy Bond Prices Fall When Yields Rise
The see-saw between bond prices and yields confuses everyone at first. A plain-English explanation with real numbers, plus why 'my gilt fund lost money' and 'bonds are safe' are both true.
ConceptsThe Indian Yield Curve, Explained: What the Shape of Rates Tells You
How to read India's G-sec yield curve: what normal, flat and inverted shapes mean, what drives each segment (RBI, liquidity, supply, global flows), and how investors use the curve in practice.
ProductsZero-Coupon Bonds in India: No Coupons, No Reinvestment Risk, Interesting Taxes
How zero-coupon bonds and deep-discount instruments work in India: where to find them (T-bills, STRIPS, notified ZCBs, cumulative NCDs), why they're the purest rate instrument, and the tax treatment that varies by structure.
Taxation54EC Capital Gains Bonds: 5.25% and a Tax Break, and When the Math Works
REC, PFC, IRFC and HUDCO 54EC bonds explained: the ₹50 lakh limit, 6-month deadline, 5-year lock-in, and the honest breakeven math against paying 12.5% LTCG and investing freely.
ProductsAT1 and Perpetual Bonds: The 'High-Yield Bank Bond' That Can Go to Zero
What AT1 bonds are, how ₹8,415 crore of Yes Bank AT1s were written off while equity survived, the Supreme Court case still pending in 2026, and how to read yield-to-call if you still want in.
PlatformsBond Investment Platforms in India (2026): How to Choose, and How to Spot Markups
An independent comparison framework for SEBI-registered OBPP bond platforms including IndiaBonds, GoldenPi, Wint Wealth, Jiraaf, Bondbazaar and Stable Money, plus the habit that protects you from hidden markups.
ProductsBharat Bond ETFs & Target Maturity Funds: Still Worth It After the Tax Change?
How Bharat Bond ETFs and target-maturity debt funds work, the 2030–2033 lineup, their rock-bottom expense ratios, and the honest comparison against direct G-secs now that debt funds are taxed at slab.
StrategyThe Bond Ladder Strategy for Indian Investors: A Practical Blueprint
How to build a bond ladder in India with G-secs, T-bills, SDLs and NCDs: a worked retiree example, rung-by-rung instrument choices, reinvestment mechanics and the mistakes to avoid.
TaxationHow Bonds Are Taxed in India (FY 2026-27): The Complete Guide
Every tax rule that hits Indian bond investors in one place: slab tax on coupons, 12.5% LTCG on listed bonds, the unlisted-bond trap, TDS thresholds, Form 121, and the Budget 2026 SGB change.
ConceptsClean Price, Dirty Price and Day Counts: Why Your Bond Invoice Never Matches the Quote
The settlement mechanics every Indian bond buyer should know: clean vs dirty price, accrued interest, and the 30/360 vs Actual/Actual day-count conventions that decide the rupees on your contract note.
StrategyHow to Evaluate a Corporate Bond: The 10-Point Checklist Before You Click Buy
A practical due-diligence checklist for Indian corporate bonds and NCDs: ratings and their limits, secured vs unsecured, listing status, spread sanity checks, liquidity, and position sizing.
G-secs & T-billsG-secs vs Fixed Deposits: Which Is Better in 2026?
Government securities against bank FDs, compared honestly on safety, post-tax returns, liquidity and rate risk, with the math done at current mid-2026 yields.
G-secs & T-billsHow to Buy Government Bonds (G-secs) in India: All 4 Routes Compared
Every way to buy Government of India securities in 2026: RBI Retail Direct auctions, the NDS-OM secondary market, broker platforms and gilt funds, with steps, costs and when each route wins.
G-secs & T-billsHow to Buy T-Bills in India: RBI Retail Direct Step-by-Step (2026)
The complete walkthrough for buying 91, 182 and 364-day treasury bills through RBI Retail Direct: account opening, non-competitive bidding, the auction calendar, settlement, taxation and exit options.
ProductsNCD Public Issues: How to Read One in 10 Minutes and Apply Online
How NCD public issues work in India: finding open issues, decoding the series table, the 10-minute prospectus skim, applying via UPI or ASBA through your broker, and what happens at allotment and listing.
ProductsRBI Floating Rate Savings Bonds at 8.05%: Full Review (July–December 2026)
Everything about the RBI Floating Rate Savings Bond (FRSB 2020): how the NSC-linked 8.05% rate works, taxation and TDS, lock-in rules, senior-citizen exits, and who should and shouldn't buy.
PlatformsRBI Retail Direct Review (2026): What It's Great At, Where It's Clunky
An honest review of RBI Retail Direct for buying T-bills, G-secs, SDLs and FRSBs: the zero-cost advantage, the app, the NDS-OM secondary market reality, and when a broker or fund is the better route.
G-secs & T-billsSDLs: The Yield Pickup Almost Nobody Talks About
State Development Loans explained: why state government bonds yield well above G-secs with a spotless payment record, what the spread has done recently, how the RBI's payment mechanism works, and how to buy SDLs at auction.
TaxationSGB Taxation After Budget 2026: What Changed for Secondary-Market Buyers
From 1 April 2026, the SGB capital-gains exemption at redemption applies only to original subscribers. What changed, who's affected, the tax math for secondary buyers, and what to do now.
StrategyT-Bills vs Liquid Funds: Where Should Short-Term Money Sit?
Treasury bills against liquid mutual funds on credit, cost, liquidity, taxes and current yields, plus the graded emergency-fund architecture that uses both correctly.
ConceptsWhat Is YTM? Yield to Maturity Explained with Real Numbers
Yield to maturity explained properly: what it measures, how it's calculated, why it differs from the coupon and current yield, and the assumptions it quietly makes about reinvestment.