SEBI launches “Demat 2.0” pilot for tokenised corporate bonds; three issuers raise ₹1,025 crore, funds leg settled in RBI’s wholesale e₹

What has been announced

By Press Release PR No. 56/2026 dated 10 September 2026, SEBI announced the successful launch of “Demat 2.0”, a pilot project on tokenisation of corporate bonds. The announcement was made jointly by Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Governor, RBI and Shri Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Chairman, SEBI, at the Global Fintech Fest, Mumbai.

What Demat 2.0 is

SEBI describes Demat 2.0 as new market infrastructure developed to test a new way of issuing, holding, trading and settling corporate bonds. The bond is created as a digital token on a distributed ledger — a shared electronic record maintained simultaneously by market infrastructure institutions using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The ledger is owned by the depositories.

It is connected to RBI’s wholesale CBDC (e₹) through RBI’s Unified Market Interface (UMI). This enables atomic settlement: the bond and the money move instantaneously. Interest payments and redemption can be handled automatically through smart contracts — instructions written into the ledger that execute on their own — with payment in e₹ reaching the bondholders’ CBDC wallets on the due date.

Advantages listed by SEBI

• The issuer receives funds on the same day as bidding; this generally used to take 2–3 days after bidding.
• Cost of issuance and servicing is expected to reduce for the issuer as manual processes are automated.
• Less file sharing, reconciliation and validation for the market intermediaries involved.
• Settlement risk is eliminated because of atomic settlement.
• In the secondary market, investors receive funds immediately, which used to take 2–3 days.
• Interest and redemption payments are credited in e₹ to bondholders’ CBDC wallets on the due date, triggered by smart contract.

Issuances so far

The pilot is being taken forward in phases. Issuances under the first phase are ongoing. Later phases will extend to buying and selling these bonds through the existing RFQ platforms, and to access for retail investors. SEBI says the experience gained will guide any wider rollout.

What changes and what does not

What changes is the technology used to record ownership and service the bond. According to the press release, the bond remains the same instrument in law, the company’s obligation to repay is unchanged and the rights of investors are unchanged. Requirements relating to credit rating, debenture trustees, listing and disclosures continue to apply in full. These bonds will also trade in the same manner as bonds held in demat form, so the market is not fragmented.

How an investor takes part

• Tokenised bonds are held in the investor’s existing demat account — no separate account to open and no fresh KYC.
• The investor needs to enable Demat 2.0 with the depository.
• The investor needs a wholesale CBDC (e₹) wallet with a participating bank to settle the funds leg.

SEBI has said that FAQs explaining the pilot and how to participate are being issued along with the press release.