Overnight funds in India

40 live funds in the Overnight category, ordered by 5-year return, highest first; Bank of India Overnight Fund leads. Funds younger than five years follow by name. Returns are for the plan each fund's page leads with, Direct where the fund has one, to each fund's latest NAV, the newest of them on 28 Oct 2026; 3 and 5 year returns are a year, compounded.

Category median, 1 year
+5.26%Middle of 36 funds
Category median, 3 years
+6.01%Middle of 33 funds
Category median, 5 years
+5.76%Middle of 26 funds

Overnight funds

Size is the average money the fund managed over its latest quarter. Cost is its yearly expense ratio.Filter them in the screener

NAV of 28 Oct 2026

Tax on overnight funds

Gains on units bought on or after 1 Apr 2023 are taxed at the income tax slab rate however long they are held; gains on units bought earlier are taxed at 12.5% when held over 24 months, or over 12 months for a listed fund such as an ETF, and at the slab rate otherwise.

Rules in force from 23 Jul 2024, checked 27 Oct 2026. Surcharge and cess are not included.

About overnight funds in India

Overnight funds in India are open-ended debt mutual funds that invest only in securities maturing the next business day, such as TREPS and reverse repo. SEBI recognises overnight as its own debt category, the shortest-maturity one.

What an overnight fund holds

The fund lends money for one day at a time and takes it back the next business day, then lends again. Most of the portfolio sits in TREPS (tri-party repo, a one-day loan against government securities, cleared through a central clearing corporation) and reverse repo, where the fund lends cash and holds government securities as collateral.

Because nearly every holding matures within a day and is backed by collateral, the fund carries almost no interest rate risk and very little credit risk. Its NAV rises by a small amount each day, close to the overnight lending rate.

SEBI rules for the category

SEBI's categorisation norms describe an overnight fund as an open-ended debt scheme investing in overnight securities with a maturity of one day. It may keep up to 5% of net assets in government securities and treasury bills maturing within 30 days, to place as margin and collateral. A common benchmark is the NIFTY 1D Rate Index, which tracks the overnight rate.

Since 1 Jun 2025, SEBI's cut-off for online redemption applications in overnight schemes is 7 pm, later than the 3 pm cut-off that continues for offline applications. The change gives brokers time to release pledged units after market hours.

Overnight and liquid funds compared

A liquid fund invests in debt that matures in up to 91 days, so it holds commercial paper, treasury bills and certificates of deposit alongside repo. An overnight fund holds one-day paper apart from that 5% margin allowance. That gives a liquid fund a slightly wider range of returns and some credit and rate exposure, while an overnight fund tracks the overnight rate.

Taxation

Overnight funds are debt funds, and gains on units bought on or after 1 Apr 2023 are taxed at the investor's income tax slab rate whatever the holding period, with no indexation. Tax applies when units are redeemed, not while they are held.

How this page lists them

The page lists the live funds ordered by 5-year return, highest first, with funds younger than five years after them by name. Returns use each fund's Direct plan where one exists, run to its latest NAV, and the 3-year and 5-year figures are compounded per year. Size is the average money managed over the latest quarter and cost is the yearly expense ratio. Every fund earns close to the same overnight rate, so returns sit in a narrow band and cost accounts for much of the gap between funds.