REC Issues ₹500 Cr Through Tokenised Corporate Bonds, 8x Oversubscribed

REC Ltd, a Maharatna company under the Ministry of Power, has issued what it described as India’s first pilot issue of tokenised corporate bonds under the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI’s) regulatory sandbox framework, marking an experiment in using digital infrastructure for corporate debt issuance.

The pilot issue was worth ₹500 crore, comprising a base issue of ₹100 crore and a green shoe option of ₹400 crore, REC said in a statement on Monday.

Bidding was conducted on the electronic bidding platform (EBP) of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), it said.

The issue attracted bids worth ₹796 crore, resulting in an oversubscription of around 8x, the company said.

REC accepted ₹500 crore at a coupon rate of 7.30% per annum for a tenor of one year and nine months.

Faster Settlement Through Tokenisation

REC said the tokenised structure enabled faster settlement, with pay-in, allotment and listing completed on the same day. The bonds have been listed on both NSE and BSE.

The company said the pilot reflected the participation of SEBI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and market infrastructure institutions, including NPCI, depositories and stock exchanges.

"We express our deepest appreciation to SEBI for its visionary leadership in strengthening India's capital markets through progressive regulations, active stakeholder consultation, and technology-driven reforms," Rajesh Kumar, Director (Finance), REC, said on the issuance in a statement.

"SEBl's continued focus on ease of doing business, improved market efficiency, and faster turnaround of regulatory processes has significantly enhanced the depth and resilience of India's financial markets," he added.

Demat 2.0 And Digital Debt Markets

REC said the issuance introduces atomic Delivery-versus-Payment (DvP) settlement and shared-ledger transparency.

It added that under the Demat 2.0 initiative, securities ownership is recorded and tracked on a permissioned distributed ledger.

According to REC, the system is intended to reduce settlement risks and operational friction while retaining statutory safeguards and institutional compliance.

Kumar remarked the Demat 2.0 initiative and tokenisation of corporate bonds as a landmark step in the evolution of India's debt markets.

"By leveraging digital infrastructure, distributed ledger technology, and CBDC-enabled settlement while preserving existing investor protections and regulatory safeguards, SEBI is laying the foundation for the next generation of capital market infrastructure," he said.