Bond Tokenization Summit 2026 brings industry leaders together

A day after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about tokenisation as one of the three cornerstone technologies destined to drive the next global financial revolution, WION and Zee Business hosted the Bond Tokenization Summit 2026 at Sahara Star Ruby, Mumbai, on Wednesday, September 9. The event examined how tokenisation — issuing digital tokens that represent ownership or economic rights in a bond — could reshape issuance, settlement and investor access in India’s corporate and government bond markets.

Addressing the gathering, Sundararaman Ramamurthy, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, BSE Ltd highlighted the critical role of India’s corporate bond market in driving capital formation and supporting the vision of a developed India.

“While the market has grown nearly three-fold over the past decade, from around ₹18 lakh crore to ₹54 lakh crore, significant headroom remains for further expansion and wider retail participation. Tokenisation can be a key enabler in democratising access to corporate bonds, allowing retail investors to participate through smaller investment sizes while making the market more accessible, efficient and inclusive,” he said.

Speaking about the event, Raktim Das, CEO, Zee Media Corporation Limited, said: “This joint initiative by WION and ZEE Business brings together two distinct strengths — WION’s global perspective and access to leading voices shaping the future of finance, and Zee Business’ deep connect with India’s retail investor. Together, we aim to build greater understanding of tokenisation and its potential, taking it from a global financial conversation to a meaningful opportunity for the retail investor.”

Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi also highlighted: “With India’s bond market expanding rapidly and global capital showing increasing interest in Indian debt, the focus must now shift towards significantly deepening retail participation.”

The event saw a series of high-impact discussions. The first panel, “Code to Capital: Tokenizing the Bond Market” was addressed by Tajinder Virk, CEO, Blockmaze; Kanhaiya Singh, Co-Founder, E-Sutra Associations; and Mohan Lal Kumawat, Executive Director, REC. The discussion covered how conventional bonds move onto blockchain-based infrastructure, and how smart contracts can automate coupon payments, redemptions and compliance checks.

At a fireside chat that followed, Devidas Kshirsagar, Joint Municipal Commissioner (Finance), BMC, spoke on municipal borrowing and the potential for smaller-ticket issues.

The second panel, “Sandbox to Scale: Rewriting the Compliance Code”, brought together CA Sonu Jain, Tickr; Edul Patel, Founder, Mudrex and Saber Money; and Sudeep Chatterjee, CEO, Stoex. They discussed the regulatory, custody and settlement frameworks required for tokenised bonds to move from pilots to mainstream markets, including KYC and AML norms, settlement finality, taxation clarity and interoperability with existing depositories.

The third panel, “Code, Connectivity & Capital: The Troika of Trust”, was moderated by Nikhil Aggarwal, Founder, Grip Invest. Addressing the session were Ashish Singhal, Co-Founder, CoinSwitch, Lemonn and DigiVault; Rudresh Kunde, Chief of Product, Data & Strategy, BSE; and DC Patwari, former Chairman, MSE. The session focused on how shared, auditable records and automated processing can cut manual intervention while operating within SEBI, RBI and depository norms.

The concluding panel, “Think Global, Tokenize Local?” was led by moderator Avinash Rao, founder, ALT DRX, where Ramana Kumar, President of ADI Foundation, Abu Dhabi; Jubin Goyal, CEO and director of eXchange1 and Prashant Nikam, co-founder and chairman of Sapio Analytics shared global perspectives on building cross-border digital asset standards.

The event, presented by E-SUTRA and Blockmaze, co-powered by Grip Invest and STOEX, and supported by associate partner Alt DRX, demonstrated that digital debt has moved out of theoretical whitepapers and into the core architectural design of modern finance.