Rupee Rebound RBI Measures: INR Gains Nearly 1% on Oct 12 After Oil Dollar Window

The rupee rebound after the RBI measures of 10 October 2026 didn’t take long. On Monday, 12 October, the Indian rupee gained nearly 1% against the US dollar, after the central bank opened a special dollar window for state-run oil marketers and tightened its forex-derivative rules over the weekend. In interbank trade the rupee closed at ₹95.77 per dollar, up 96 paise from Friday’s ₹96.73 close, according to market reports of the session.

How the RBI’s dollar window for oil companies works

The Reserve Bank of India said in a press release dated 10 October 2026 that it would open a special window to meet the entire daily dollar requirements of three public-sector oil marketing companies: Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation. The RBI sells US dollars to these OMCs through designated banks. The window started on Monday, 12 October 2026, and stays open until further notice.

Why does this matter so much? Oil marketers are some of the biggest repeat buyers of dollars in the onshore market, because crude imports are paid in foreign currency. Move that demand to a separate RBI channel and the spot market loses a heavy, regular buyer. OMCs no longer have to hunt for dollars in open trading. Industry estimates cited in coverage of the move put the diverted monthly demand at roughly $10–12 billion. The RBI itself has not published a volume or a pricing formula for the window.

Rupee rebound RBI measures: how far the INR moved

By Friday’s onshore close near ₹96.73, the currency was edging towards the closely watched 97 level. On 12 October the rupee opened around ₹95.76, moved in a session range near ₹95.58–₹95.98 and settled at ₹95.77 — roughly 96 paise, or nearly 1%, stronger than Friday. Tuesday, 13 October, brought more of the same. The rupee closed at ₹95.38 (provisional), up 40 paise, after touching an intraday high of ₹94.96, per PTI reporting carried by The Hindu.

The official RBI reference rates archived by the Metropolitan Stock Exchange tell the same story: USD/INR at 96.6149 on 9 October, 95.7485 on 12 October and 95.2477 on 13 October. That is a sharp firming of the rupee in the days after the weekend announcements.

The derivative rules that came with it

The oil window came as part of a package. The RBI also tightened discipline in foreign-exchange derivatives. Authorised dealers can no longer rebook cancelled INR-linked derivative contracts. The threshold for certain positions without an established underlying exposure dropped from $100 million to $5 million. And dealers now face a foreign-exchange risk reserve of 20% of eligible notional amounts on specified hedges where users buy foreign currency against the rupee. That is how Business Standard and other outlets quoting the directions summed it up.

The backdrop explains why the package hit so hard. Business Standard noted that India’s foreign-exchange reserves had fallen by about $51.1 billion in the four weeks ended 2 October, from a record $785.7 billion in the week ended 4 September. Defending the currency had already become expensive before the special window opened.

What equity and currency watchers should take from this

In the near term, less spot dollar buying by OMCs and costlier speculative hedges can steady USD/INR and remove one source of daily volatility that often spills into risk assets. Equities saw some relief around the same dates — the Sensex closed at 73,033.78 on 13 October — though foreign flows stayed a cross-current (see our FII/DII data for 13 October and the Sensex rally wrap). Whether the rupee keeps strengthening still depends on crude prices, the dollar’s global path and portfolio flows, not just on the special window.

Our Stock Market Today India hub tracks indices, the rupee and flows through the day. The way we see it, the RBI’s facility buys time by taking a large, sticky buyer out of the spot market. It does not, on its own, fix the current-account gap or the oil-import bill that keeps dollar demand structurally high.