ChainThink reports that, according to Reuters, India plans to issue its first tokenized bond on August 25, issued by the state-owned power financing company REC, with an expected issuance size of less than 5 billion rupees (approximately $57 million).
India’s financial regulator and central bank are jointly advancing a pilot in which bond issuance and settlement will utilize blockchain technology. The product is slated for launch during the annual fintech conference in Mumbai in September, initially available to a limited number of investors.
Investors will participate through wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) wallets and electronic securities wallets; India’s depository is developing an electronic wallet called DEMT 2.0 to record bond holdings on a distributed ledger.
The bond has an initial term of three months, and subsequent trading is limited to participants holding compatible CBDC and securities wallets. A secondary market for tokenized bonds is expected to form by December and will not be traded on traditional electronic trading platforms.