The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on September 10, 2026, notified regarding the Successful launch of “Demat 2.0” Pilot project for Tokenised Corporate Bonds.
The following has been stated namely: -
• Demat 2.0 is a SEBI pilot project for tokenisation of corporate bonds, launched using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).
• Corporate bonds are created and held as digital tokens on a shared distributed ledger, with the ledger owned by the depositories.
• Demat 2.0 connects with RBI’s wholesale CBDC (e₹) through the Unified Market Interface (UMI).
• The bond and money move simultaneously, significantly reducing settlement risk.
• Interest payments and redemption can be automated through smart contracts, with payments made in e₹ to investors' CBDC wallets on the due date.
• Issuers can receive funds on the same day as bidding, instead of the usual 2–3 days. Secondary-market investors can also receive funds immediately.
• Automation is expected to reduce issuance/servicing costs, reconciliation, file sharing, manual processing and errors.
• India is the first country where corporate bonds are natively issued on a DLT, ownership is maintained by statutory depositories, and settlement uses central-bank digital currency within the regulated market infrastructure.
• Three issuers have raised ₹1,025 crore in total:
o REC Ltd — ₹500 crore
o L&T Ltd — ₹500 crore
o IIFL — ₹25 crore
• The technology changes, not the legal nature or investor protection. Credit ratings, debenture trustees, listing and disclosure requirements continue. Investors can hold tokenised bonds in their existing demat account and need no fresh KYC or separate account; they need Demat 2.0 enabled and a participating bank's wholesale CBDC (e₹) wallet.
[Notification No. 56/2026]
