REC Limited Issues India's First Tokenized Corporate Bonds Worth ₹500 Crore

REC Limited, a Maharatna Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Power, has successfully issued India's first pilot issue of tokenized corporate bonds under the SEBI Regulatory Sandbox Framework. The issuance size was ₹500 Crore, comprising a base issue of ₹100 Crore with a green shoe option of ₹400 Crore. The bid was placed on the EBP platform of the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE).

The issue garnered significant investor interest, with a book building of approximately ₹796 Crore, indicating an oversubscription of about 8 times. REC accepted ₹500 Crore at a coupon rate of 7.30% per annum for a tenor of 1 year and 9 months.

This landmark achievement reflects the collaborative efforts of SEBI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and various Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs), including NPCI, depositories, and stock exchanges. The tokenized mode facilitated faster settlement, with pay-in, allotment, and listing of the bonds occurring on the same day. The bonds are listed on both NSE and BSE Limited.

Shri Rajesh Kumar, Director (Finance), REC, expressed appreciation for SEBI's visionary leadership in enhancing India's capital markets through progressive regulations and technology-driven reforms. He highlighted that the tokenization of corporate bonds, as part of the Demat 2.0 initiative, represents a significant evolution in India's debt markets. This initiative leverages digital infrastructure, distributed ledger technology, and CBDC-enabled settlement, while preserving existing investor protections and regulatory safeguards, laying the groundwork for the next generation of capital market infrastructure. The process ensures secure recording and tracking of securities ownership on a permissioned distributed ledger, mitigating settlement risks and operational friction.