India Plans First Tokenized Corporate Bond With Digital Rupee Settlement

The Reserve Bank of India launched its wholesale digital rupee, e₹-W, on Nov. 1, 2022, initially to settle secondary-market trades in government securities. Extending that infrastructure to corporate debt would test whether tokenized securities and central-bank money can move together, enabling near-instant delivery-versus-payment while reducing settlement and operational risk. The initiative would also place India alongside markets including Europe and Hong Kong that are experimenting with blockchain-based bond issuance and settlement.

India plans to launch its first tokenized corporate bond in September 2026, Reuters reported on Aug. 24, citing three people with direct knowledge. State-owned power financier REC will issue the notes to a limited group of investors; the deal size and investor names were not disclosed. Participants will need a bank-provided wholesale CBDC wallet and a DEMAT 2.0 securities wallet being developed by Indian depositories. The bonds will carry a three-month lock-up, and exchanges are expected to build a secondary market by December, outside the conventional electronic book provider platform.