REC Limited, a Maharatna Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Power and leading NBFC-IFC, has achieved a landmark milestone by issuing India's first pilot issue of tokenized corporate bonds under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Regulatory Sandbox Framework.
The size of the pilot issue was ₹500 crore, consisting of a base issue of ₹100 crore with a green shoe option of ₹400 crore. Bidding was undertaken on the EBP platform of National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE).
The issue received an overwhelming market response, clocking a book building of ₹796 crore, representing an oversubscription of approximately 8 times. REC accepted ₹500 crore at a coupon rate of 7.30% per annum for a tenor of 1 year 9 months.
The tokenized mode enabled 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.
The issuance represents a transformative leap forward in India's capital market, introducing atomic Delivery-versus-Payment (DvP) settlement and shared-ledger transparency through the Demat 2.0 initiative. This leverages digital infrastructure, distributed ledger technology, and CBDC-enabled settlement while preserving existing investor protections and regulatory safeguards.
Shri Rajesh Kumar, Director (Finance) of REC, expressed appreciation to SEBI for its visionary leadership in strengthening India's capital markets through progressive regulations, active stakeholder consultation, and technology-driven reforms. He noted that SEBI's focus on ease of doing business, improved market efficiency, and faster regulatory processes has enhanced the depth and resilience of India's financial markets.
The success of this pilot issue reflects the coordinated commitment of SEBI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and all participating Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) including NPCI, depositories and stock exchanges.