SEBI, RBI Launch Corporate Bond Tokenization Pilot to Boost Market Efficiency

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have launched a pilot program to test corporate bond tokenization using shared-ledger technology. This initiative seeks to modernize India's ₹60 trillion corporate bond market by automating coupon payments via smart contracts and accelerating settlement times. By shifting from traditional, manual settlement processes to a digital ledger, regulators aim to resolve systemic inefficiencies and low liquidity. Currently, trading activity is concentrated in only a few hundred instruments despite thousands of outstanding bonds. The pilot also targets the corporate bond repo market, which currently sees daily volumes of approximately ₹6,000 crore. While the project does not create a new trading platform, it focuses on upgrading the underlying infrastructure to improve market accessibility. This development is significant as it represents a major regulatory effort to integrate blockchain-based efficiencies into a massive, traditional financial ecosystem. Success in this pilot could provide a blueprint for large-scale institutional adoption of tokenized debt instruments.