India, Sept. 8 -- The Reserve Bank of India on Monday mopped up over Rs 6 lakh crore of excess funds from the banking system in two auctions, which saw an underwhelming response from banks despite surplus liquidity. The 30-day variable rate reverse repo (VRRR) auction announced last week received a tepid response from banks, and the central bank announced another auction in the first half of the day.

As against Rs 7 lakh crore of notified amount, the first auction received a tepid response, with bids of just over Rs 2.59 lakh crore being received for the 30-day VRRR, according to an official statement.

The bids for the 30-day VRRR were accepted at the cut-off and weighted average rate of 5.24 per cent, according to the RBI. Soon afterwa...