REC, the state-run power finance company, is seeking investor bids for a blockchain-based bond sale that would mark the first tokenized bond issuance in India. According to a Bloomberg report cited in the source article, the offering could raise as much as 5 billion rupees, or about $53 million.
The proposed notes mature in May 2028 and are structured as tokenized bonds. Investors will be allowed to subscribe only by using the Reserve Bank of India’s central bank digital currency, the digital rupee, making the sale a test of both bond tokenization and CBDC-based settlement in India’s debt market.
A first-of-its-kind issuance
REC’s planned sale would be a notable step for India’s capital markets because no previous domestic tokenized bond deal of this kind has been reported in the country. The company is currently soliciting bids from investors for the offering.
The transaction combines two emerging market infrastructure themes: blockchain-based issuance and payment through a central bank digital currency. In this case, access to the bonds is tied specifically to use of the digital rupee rather than conventional payment rails.
Why Indian authorities are interested
The initiative fits into a wider policy effort to strengthen India’s corporate bond market. In May, Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said tokenization could accelerate settlement, improve liquidity in the bond market, and increase transparency.
Those expected benefits help explain why a state-backed issuer is being used to test the model. Faster post-trade processes and clearer recordkeeping are among the practical goals often associated with tokenized financial instruments, though the source article does not say how quickly India may move beyond this planned sale.
A small bond market by international standards
India’s corporate bond market remains relatively limited compared with several other major Asian economies. The source article says the market is equal to about 17% of the country’s gross domestic product, a much smaller share than in places such as South Korea and Malaysia.
That gap is part of the backdrop for experiments aimed at broadening participation and improving market efficiency. If successful, tokenized issuance could offer policymakers and market participants another tool for modernizing how corporate debt is issued and settled.
Regional momentum and what comes next
India’s planned REC transaction comes as tokenized bond activity expands elsewhere in Asia. In June, Hong Kong Mortgage Corp. issued HK$8.5 billion of digital bonds, a deal described in the source article as one of the largest in the world.
More broadly, the global market for tokenized assets is now estimated at about $39 billion. For now, the next confirmed step in India is REC’s bid process for the notes due in May 2028, with the sale serving as an early test of whether tokenized bonds and digital-rupee settlement can be used in the country’s corporate debt market.
Source: en.bloomingbit.io