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: NameExpiryPeak Rent / SharePeak YieldAvg. Rent / ShareAvg. YieldTraded VolumeTraded ValuePGEL05 May 264098.38%12.1723.70%9,59,5521,16,80,264.80INFY05 May 2745.23%1.61.52%82,02,0721,31,20,202.62HCLTECH05 May 281412.36%4.383.34%73,33,2433,20,96,153.17TECHM05 May 294029.30%3.393.28%7,27,64324,66,530.26RVNL05 May 302281.22%11.4837.63%68,87,6967,90,61,664.35IRFC05 May 315.757.70%0.777.14%61,57,75447,40,900.06OBEROIRLTY05 May 3279.948.23%20.0313.04%6,87,2401,37,62,650.44BAJAJ-AUTO02 Jun 2625.013.11%13.261.31%6,65,58288,25,430.18RELIANCE05 May 3210.82%0.910.53%6,28,0915,72,939.53IDBI05 May 32231.74%1.219.11%6,00,0397,22,723.46LTF05 May 322.9713.19%1.935.91%53,66,6861,03,60,486.44BLUESTARCO02 Jun 2612.997.26%7.243.38%5,84,62042,30,252.88KFINTECH05 May 2626.428.92%11.7615.26%5,67,26766,72,340.96DRREDDY02 Jun 26510.91%3.693.31%5,42,10519,97,662.75SBICARD05 May 2680125.25%36.7940.64%5,36,0771,97,21,766.23ADANIENT05 May 261511.47%5.983.68%5,01,92930,02,166.18KEI05 May 2612031.57%55.5412.93%4,86,9862,70,47,976.71ASTRAL02 Jun 2620078.96%57.6430.01%4,70,5672,71,24,542.43WIPRO05 May 26263.64%0.793.71%4,30,33,5203,40,45,602.41LLTM02 Feb 2722570.76%52.9311.68%4,23,8842,24,36,390.71TRENT05 May 26103.28%5.541.86%4,05,46122,47,986.96KOTAKBANK7April20260.31.71%0.260.53%36,12,5729,32,415.53COALINDIA05 May 261.283.49%0.651.83%34,21,86122,15,003.69IREDA05 May 263.2526.61%1.8614.05%31,51,66858,48,710.15DMART05 May 26204.80%13.112.47%3,88,24550,91,548.97 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: NameExpiryPeak Rent / SharePeak YieldAvg. Rent / ShareAvg. YieldTraded VolumeTraded ValueELECTCAST07 Apr 269243.89%0.8214.65%25,00120,486JAYNECOIND07 Apr 264141.27%4141.27%7983,192SBICARD05 May 2680125.25%36.7940.64%5,36,0771,97,21,766PPLPHARMA05 May 2617110.83%1.19.59%10,59,32011,68,950EMMVEE07 Apr 2614107.10%10.4379.80%5,46356,987PREMIERENE05 May 2626102.34%10.5313.41%2,24,10823,59,810PGEL05 May 264098.38%12.1723.70%9,59,5521,16,80,265PNBHOUSING07 Apr 2615.9596.38%11.4369.04%3,25037,134EASEMYTRIP05 May 260.284.06%0.1665.34%40,4196,284RVNL05 May 262281.22%11.4837.63%68,87,6967,90,61,664ASTRAL02 Jun 2620078.96%57.6430.01%4,70,5672,71,24,542LTM02 Feb 2722570.76%52.9311.68%4,23,8842,24,36,391NUVAMA05 May 268069.86%36.2231.51%56,18620,34,856WIPRO05 May 26263.64%0.793.71%4,30,33,5203,40,45,602BDL05 May 264963.31%13.119.81%2,67,48835,06,547HCG05 May 262160.51%6.9714.50%98,7726,88,349IRFC05 May 265.757.70%0.777.14%61,57,75447,40,900JUBLFOOD05 May 261555.55%5.6111.88%3,38,81119,00,645MUTHOOTFIN05 May 265050.73%12.353.71%1,19,03914,69,872SEPC07 Apr 260.149.96%0.149.95%16,5901,659OBEROIRLTY05 May 2679.948.23%20.0313.04%6,87,2401,37,62,650PFOCUS07 Apr 26643.98%3.3324.42%26,05986,835ICIL07 Apr 26442.19%2.1823.00%3,6647,989NYKAA05 May 26938.83%6.1528.42%1,00,1596,16,040KIMS05 May 269.9338.32%3.4310.09%3851,320 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.