Speaking at the Debt Market Summit organised by the CareEdge Group, NSE MD and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan said India must significantly deepen its corporate bond market to support the country's long-term growth ambitions.
Chauhan said India's vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 will require investments to rise from around 30% of GDP to over 35%, adding that bank lending alone cannot meet those financing needs.
“Corporate bonds must play a much larger role,” he said, highlighting their importance in funding infrastructure, energy transition, manufacturing, and emerging sectors.
India's corporate bond market has grown steadily in recent years. Outstanding corporate bonds reached around ₹59.1 lakh crore in FY26, growing at an annualised pace of 13.6% and outpacing bank credit growth. Corporate bonds now account for 17.1% of GDP, up from 11.7% in FY12.
However, the NSE chief noted that India still lags global peers. Corporate bond markets account for 75.7% of GDP in South Korea, 54.7% in Malaysia, and 38.2% in the United States.
He also pointed to growing activity in secondary markets. Trade counts on NSE's debt platform more than doubled in FY26, while average daily corporate bond trading volumes rose sharply to Rs 9,158 crore.
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Retail participation has also accelerated. Individual investors now account for 77% of total trade counts on NSE's debt platform, with unique retail participants rising to 12.7 lakh as of April 2026.
Chauhan credited reforms such as SEBI's Online Bond Platform Provider (OBPP) framework and the reduction in minimum bond face value to Rs 10,000 for improving retail access to debt markets.
He praised regulatory initiatives introduced under SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey, including reforms to RFQ platforms, lower debt issuance thresholds, and revised credit derivatives rules.
Chauhan also welcomed measures announced in the Union Budget 2026–27 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, including a permanent market-making framework for corporate bonds and the introduction of bond index derivatives.
Despite the progress, he acknowledged that India's bond market remains heavily dependent on private placements, while public issuances and long-term financing for mid-rated companies remain limited.
Citing projections from NITI Aayog, Chauhan said India's corporate bond market could grow to Rs 220 lakh crore by 2030.
“A deep corporate bond market lowers the cost of capital, reduces overreliance on bank credit, and mobilises savings efficiently for the investments that matter most,” he said.
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