SLBM Market Insights March 2026: Rental trends top stocks yield opportunities

The month of March 2026 proved to be an exciting one for the Securities Lending and Borrowing Mechanism (SLBM), giving long-term investors unique opportunities for passive earnings, while at the same time allowing borrowers to engage in short-term positioning. With 341 scrips that have been actively used in the securities lending mechanism, along with 11.87 crore shares being lent by SLBM participants, the securities lending and borrowing mechanism is becoming an important income stream for investors with idle holdings. Here we will further explore the SLBM trends, the top-performing stocks, and the best-yielding opportunities that dominated the SLBM market in March 2026.What is SLBM, and why does this data matter?The SLBM allows investors to earn passive rental income by lending their idle stock holdings, and borrowers to access some specific securities to pursue various short-term strategies, including short selling and arbitrage strategies, without disrupting their own portfolios.The clearing of all SLBM transactions is guaranteed and cleared by a clearing corporation, like the NSE Clearing Limited (NCL), which reduces counterparty risk. The maximum tenure of SLB is 12 months, and the lending fee or rent is not fixed but depends on the market demand and the nature of the stock.To lenders, a stock with high short-side demand can yield annualised returns many times greater than most fixed-income investments, without altering the underlying ownership.The SLBM landscape in March 2026In March 2026, the total rented value in the SLBM market was ₹57,31,94,839 crores, and the total rented volume was 11,87,71,144 shares in 341 active scrips. The market showed two different trends in which the liquid large-cap stocks, such as INFY, WIPRO, and RVNL, had high lending volumes, which were driven by institutional demand and arbitrage activities.The stocks such as SBICARD, EMMVEE, and PPLPHARMA had exceptionally high returns. This indicates that short-sellers had difficulties in getting a sufficient supply of these stocks, and thus, they had to pay a premium to borrow them.Top traded stocks in SLBM (March 2026)The stocks with the highest lending volumes and rental demand in the Indian market during the volatile sessions of March 2026 were as follows: Name Expiry Peak Rent / Share Peak Yield Avg. Rent / Share Avg. Yield Traded Volume Traded Value PGEL 05 May 26 40 98.38% 12.17 23.70% 9,59,552 1,16,80,264.80 INFY 05 May 27 4 5.23% 1.6 1.52% 82,02,072 1,31,20,202.62 HCLTECH 05 May 28 14 12.36% 4.38 3.34% 73,33,243 3,20,96,153.17 TECHM 05 May 29 40 29.30% 3.39 3.28% 7,27,643 24,66,530.26 RVNL 05 May 30 22 81.22% 11.48 37.63% 68,87,696 7,90,61,664.35 IRFC 05 May 31 5.7 57.70% 0.77 7.14% 61,57,754 47,40,900.06 OBEROIRLTY 05 May 32 79.9 48.23% 20.03 13.04% 6,87,240 1,37,62,650.44 BAJAJ-AUTO 02 Jun 26 25.01 3.11% 13.26 1.31% 6,65,582 88,25,430.18 RELIANCE 05 May 32 1 0.82% 0.91 0.53% 6,28,091 5,72,939.53 IDBI 05 May 32 2 31.74% 1.2 19.11% 6,00,039 7,22,723.46 LTF 05 May 32 2.97 13.19% 1.93 5.91% 53,66,686 1,03,60,486.44 BLUESTARCO 02 Jun 26 12.99 7.26% 7.24 3.38% 5,84,620 42,30,252.88 KFINTECH 05 May 26 26.4 28.92% 11.76 15.26% 5,67,267 66,72,340.96 DRREDDY 02 Jun 26 5 10.91% 3.69 3.31% 5,42,105 19,97,662.75 SBICARD 05 May 26 80 125.25% 36.79 40.64% 5,36,077 1,97,21,766.23 ADANIENT 05 May 26 15 11.47% 5.98 3.68% 5,01,929 30,02,166.18 KEI 05 May 26 120 31.57% 55.54 12.93% 4,86,986 2,70,47,976.71 ASTRAL 02 Jun 26 200 78.96% 57.64 30.01% 4,70,567 2,71,24,542.43 WIPRO 05 May 26 2 63.64% 0.79 3.71% 4,30,33,520 3,40,45,602.41 LLTM 02 Feb 27 225 70.76% 52.93 11.68% 4,23,884 2,24,36,390.71 TRENT 05 May 26 10 3.28% 5.54 1.86% 4,05,461 22,47,986.96 KOTAKBANK 7 April 2026 0.3 1.71% 0.26 0.53% 36,12,572 9,32,415.53 COALINDIA 05 May 26 1.28 3.49% 0.65 1.83% 34,21,861 22,15,003.69 IREDA 05 May 26 3.25 26.61% 1.86 14.05% 31,51,668 58,48,710.15 DMART 05 May 26 20 4.80% 13.11 2.47% 3,88,245 50,91,548.97 Top yield stocks in March 2026In March, several stocks provided lenders with impressive annualised yields through SLBM. Some of the best performers are indicated in the table below: Name Expiry Peak Rent / Share Peak Yield Avg. Rent / Share Avg. Yield Traded Volume Traded Value ELECTCAST 07 Apr 26 9 243.89% 0.82 14.65% 25,001 20,486 JAYNECOIND 07 Apr 26 4 141.27% 4 141.27% 798 3,192 SBICARD 05 May 26 80 125.25% 36.79 40.64% 5,36,077 1,97,21,766 PPLPHARMA 05 May 26 17 110.83% 1.1 9.59% 10,59,320 11,68,950 EMMVEE 07 Apr 26 14 107.10% 10.43 79.80% 5,463 56,987 PREMIERENE 05 May 26 26 102.34% 10.53 13.41% 2,24,108 23,59,810 PGEL 05 May 26 40 98.38% 12.17 23.70% 9,59,552 1,16,80,265 PNBHOUSING 07 Apr 26 15.95 96.38% 11.43 69.04% 3,250 37,134 EASEMYTRIP 05 May 26 0.2 84.06% 0.16 65.34% 40,419 6,284 RVNL 05 May 26 22 81.22% 11.48 37.63% 68,87,696 7,90,61,664 ASTRAL 02 Jun 26 200 78.96% 57.64 30.01% 4,70,567 2,71,24,542 LTM 02 Feb 27 225 70.76% 52.93 11.68% 4,23,884 2,24,36,391 NUVAMA 05 May 26 80 69.86% 36.22 31.51% 56,186 20,34,856 WIPRO 05 May 26 2 63.64% 0.79 3.71% 4,30,33,520 3,40,45,602 BDL 05 May 26 49 63.31% 13.11 9.81% 2,67,488 35,06,547 HCG 05 May 26 21 60.51% 6.97 14.50% 98,772 6,88,349 IRFC 05 May 26 5.7 57.70% 0.77 7.14% 61,57,754 47,40,900 JUBLFOOD 05 May 26 15 55.55% 5.61 11.88% 3,38,811 19,00,645 MUTHOOTFIN 05 May 26 50 50.73% 12.35 3.71% 1,19,039 14,69,872 SEPC 07 Apr 26 0.1 49.96% 0.1 49.95% 16,590 1,659 OBEROIRLTY 05 May 26 79.9 48.23% 20.03 13.04% 6,87,240 1,37,62,650 PFOCUS 07 Apr 26 6 43.98% 3.33 24.42% 26,059 86,835 ICIL 07 Apr 26 4 42.19% 2.18 23.00% 3,664 7,989 NYKAA 05 May 26 9 38.83% 6.15 28.42% 1,00,159 6,16,040 KIMS 05 May 26 9.93 38.32% 3.43 10.09% 385 1,320 Wrapping upThe SLBM data of March 2026 indicates that SLBM presents an attractive opportunity to lenders to earn additional income from their idle portfolios. As the market was correcting and the traditional margin traders were being forced to book losses, informed investors were using the SLBM to generate risk-free, passive cash flow on their existing holdings.As the Indian market continues to mature and online platforms make SLBM data more accessible, renting out stocks is rapidly transitioning from a niche institutional strategy to a mainstream retail wealth-generation tool.

SLBM Market Insights March 2026: Rental trends top stocks yield opportunities

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