New Delhi, Jan 27 (Reuters) - India's federal government is likely to keep its gross market borrowing below 16 trillion rupees ($196 billion) for 2023/24 as it does not want to destabilise the bond market with any negative surprises, two sources close to the deliberations said. "Feedback from the market participants is that a borrowing of 15.5-16 trillion rupees can be absorbed well in the next financial year," one of the officials told Reuters. The government has so far raised 12.93 trln rupees up to Jan. 27, which is 91% of the overall gross borrowing target of 14.21 trillion rupees in the 2022/23 fiscal year which ends on March 31. Traders are waiting for the Union budget on Feb. 1, with the government's fiscal consolidation path and its borrowing calendar for fiscal year 2024 set to be the next market-moving trigger. In a Reuters poll, economists forecast the government will borrow a record 16 trillion Indian rupees in the fiscal year to March 2024 on higher infrastructure spending.

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