India's 1st Tokenised Bond Launched by REC Limited, Raising INR 500 Crore

REC Limited, a state-owned lender financing India's power and infrastructure sector, has successfully raised INR 500 crore through the country's first pilot issue of tokenised corporate bonds. Conducted under the Securities and Exchange Board of India's regulatory sandbox framework, the transaction marks a significant step in modernising financial market infrastructure using distributed ledger technology and digital currency.

The issuance comprised a base amount of INR 100 crore alongside a INR 400 crore green-shoe option, carrying a coupon rate of 7.30% with a tenor of one year and nine months. As per a report by Business Standard, the pilot drew overwhelming institutional interest with bids totalling INR 796 crore, while completing pay-in, allotment, and listing within a single day. Layoffs Made Me Rich: Former Meta Employee Shares Story; Social Media Post Goes Viral.

As per a report by Finextra, the transaction represents a major leap forward for digital finance by integrating Demat 2.0 permissioned distributed ledger infrastructure with the Reserve Bank of India's wholesale central bank digital currency. This technical architecture enabled atomic delivery-versus-payment settlement, meaning the digital bond and the digital funds transfer executed simultaneously to reduce settlement and counterparty risks.

Understanding Tokenised Corporate Bonds

Market experts emphasize that tokenisation does not convert traditional debt instruments into cryptocurrencies. The underlying asset remains a heavily regulated corporate bond complete with a standard issuer, coupon rate, maturity date, and explicit legal obligations.

The core innovation lies entirely in the infrastructure used to record ownership, transfer rights, and execute settlement. By shifting records from conventional centralized databases to a shared, time-stamped ledger, intermediaries can eliminate extensive reconciliation processes and streamline multi-step transactional workflows.

Potential Market Benefits and Future Outlook

Financial analysts point out that tokenised structures introduce several operational advantages, including faster settlement cycles, enhanced transparency, and greater programmability for automated corporate actions. However, industry stakeholders note that the technology currently remains confined to controlled institutional environments rather than open retail applications. CBDT Issues Fresh Income Tax Reporting Rules for Crypto Transactions: Here’s What It Means for Investors.

The broader success of tokenisation across India's debt capital markets will ultimately depend on secondary market liquidity, regulatory clarity, and seamless interoperability between legacy depositories and modern blockchain frameworks. For now, the successful REC pilot serves as a foundational template for future digital debt issuance.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 09, 2026 06:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).