India launches digital rupee settlement for bonds

India has issued ₹1,025 crore, approximately $116 million, in tokenized corporate bonds through three transactions settled with the Reserve Bank of India’s wholesale digital rupee. Summary India’s Demat 2.0 pilot has issued ₹1,025 crore in tokenized corporate bonds across three companies. REC raised ₹500 crore from 18 investors through India’s first native distributed-ledger corporate bond issuance. Larsen & Toubro raised ₹500 crore, while IIFL completed a separate ₹25 crore tokenized issuance. The RBI wholesale digital rupee settles payment atomically through its Unified Market Interface for bonds. Later pilot phases will add secondary trading through existing RFQ platforms and access for retailers. SEBI said on Sept. 10 that the Demat 2.0 pilot connects a distributed ledger owned by India’s statutory depositories with the RBI’s Unified Market Interface. The system moves the bond and its payment together through atomic settlement. REC Limited completed the first issuance on Sept. 7, raising ₹500 crore from 18 investors. Larsen & Toubro followed on Sept. 9 with a ₹500 crore bond purchased by four investors. IIFL issued ₹25 crore to one investor on the same day. The Securiti...