New Delhi, September 7, 2026: REC Limited, a Maharatna Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Power and a leading NBFC-IFC, has achieved a landmark milestone in India’s capital markets with the issuance of India’s first pilot issue of tokenized corporate bonds under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Regulatory Sandbox Framework.
The pilot issue was sized at ₹500 crore, comprising a base issue of ₹100 crore and a green shoe option of ₹400 crore. Bidding was undertaken on the Electronic Bidding Platform (EBP) of the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE).
The issue received a strong response from investors, with the order book reaching ₹796 crore, representing nearly 8 times subscription. REC accepted ₹500 crore at a coupon rate of 7.30% per annum for a tenor of one year and nine months.
The successful pilot issue reflects the coordinated efforts of SEBI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and participating Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs), including NPCI, depositories and stock exchanges. The tokenized mode enabled faster settlement, with pay-in, allotment and listing of the bonds taking place on the same day. The bonds have been listed on both NSE and BSE Limited.
Speaking on the milestone, Shri Rajesh Kumar, Director (Finance), REC, said: “We express our deepest appreciation to SEBI for its visionary leadership in strengthening India’s capital markets through progressive regulations, active stakeholder consultation, and technology-driven reforms. SEBI’s continued focus on ease of doing business, improved market efficiency, and faster turnaround of regulatory processes has significantly enhanced the depth and resilience of India’s financial markets.”
The issuance represents a significant development in India’s capital market infrastructure, introducing atomic Delivery-versus-Payment (DvP) settlement and shared-ledger transparency.
“The Demat 2.0 initiative and tokenisation of corporate bonds represent a landmark step in the evolution of India’s debt markets. By leveraging digital infrastructure, distributed ledger technology, and CBDC-enabled settlement while preserving existing investor protections and regulatory safeguards, SEBI is laying the foundation for the next generation of capital market infrastructure,” said Shri Rajesh Kumar.
Through Demat 2.0, securities ownership is securely recorded and tracked on a permissioned distributed ledger, with the objective of reducing settlement risks and operational friction while maintaining statutory safeguards and institutional compliance.
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