Debt issuances and corporate bond issuances exceeded $105 billion in the last financial year (FY24) and new equity issuances was about $25 billion, underlining the depth of Indian bond markets, Pramod Rao, Executive Director, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), said on Friday.

Speaking at an Assocham event in the national capital, Rao said they are examining proposals to expand the thematic bonds to encompass social sustainability, sustainability-linked bonds, the securitised debt instruments and municipal bonds.

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“We are eager to partner corporate India on sustainable finance transition and net zero goals via the bond market. We have recently introduced the norm of once listed, always listed for corporate bond issuers,” Rao told the gathering.

The recent formation of AMC repo clearing, jointly by the RBI and the SEBI, has seen transactions in excess of 10,000 crore within a year of its formation.

“We expect the volume to increasing as information about availability of this repo clearing becomes widely known and greater participation occurs. The emergence of online bond platforms has led to a further democratisation of the bond market and today the corporate bond market is about 60-67 per cent of the corporate lending book of the banks,” informed Rao.

R. Doraiswamy, MD, LIC of India, said while the capital bond market has been evolving, LIC has been a player in terms of particularly democratising this, in terms of development of the nation, creating the infrastructure for almost six decades.

“We look at corporate bond development, particularly in terms of the democratisation that’s happening, it’s a very, very important source for us to go back and use this market for the investment of all the money, and at the same time, help the market grow,” Doraiswamy emphasised.

Dimple Bhandia, chief general manager, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said a well-developed corporate bond market spreads risks to a larger spectrum of investors, de-risking banks and contributes to financial stability.

The Central Bank, along with other regulators, have taken a lot of measures to develop the market and contribute to growth and stability in the country, she added.