Maharashtra Plans Asset Tokenization as India Launches $107M Digital Bond Pilot

Key Highlights

Table of Contents

Maharashtra develops framework to tokenize government infrastructure, focusing on electricity transmission networks
Token sale proceeds would finance new transmission capacity and solar energy storage facilities
SEBI’s tokenized bond pilot successfully raised $107 million through distributed ledger technology
Larsen and Toubro, REC, and IIFL issued bonds via the Demat 2.0 platform with instant CBDC settlement
State leadership pushes for DELTA Act, a proposed blockchain-based property tokenization statute

Maharashtra, the most economically powerful state in India, is advancing a framework to digitize its public infrastructure on blockchain networks. Praveen Pardeshi, who leads MITRA, the state’s policy development agency, revealed the initiative during a private gathering organized by Mumbai-based tokenization platform RealX.

🇮🇳HUGE: India has officially started tokenizing its $620 BILLION corporate bond market using the digital rupee.

SEBI and the Reserve Bank of India launched "Demat 2.0," turning corporate bonds into digital tokens and settling payments through the RBI's wholesale digital rupee.… pic.twitter.com/PkyVRS68SO

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) September 12, 2026

According to Pardeshi, the state’s electrical transmission network represents the primary candidate for tokenization. While these power distribution assets produce consistent revenue streams, the capital locked within them remains unavailable for reallocation to urgent infrastructure needs.

The state currently generates excess solar electricity but lacks adequate transmission capacity to deliver it to demand centers. Pardeshi explained that converting portions of these assets into digital tokens could address this infrastructure bottleneck.

Structure of the Proposed Tokenization Initiative

Under the proposed model, between 40% and 50% of transmission infrastructure would be converted into tradable tokens. Investors purchasing these tokens would earn proportional returns from the revenue these assets produce. Capital obtained through token sales would be channeled into constructing additional transmission infrastructure and solar battery storage systems.

Pardeshi emphasized that this approach differs fundamentally from traditional privatization. “Tokenization doesn’t mean privatization wholesale; it means circulating the capital to a larger number of holders,” he explained.

He referenced Express Towers, a commercial property in Mumbai that underwent tokenization through a Real Estate Investment Trust framework, as proof that the concept works in practice.

Maharashtra’s electricity market inefficiencies underscore the urgency. Distribution companies purchase power at 16 to 18 rupees per unit during peak consumption periods, while surplus energy trades for merely 2 paisa per unit on the exchange. Enhanced transmission networks and storage capacity, financed through tokenized capital markets, could substantially reduce this pricing disparity.

This tokenization effort runs parallel to legislative developments. In July, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis instructed government officials to prepare the Maharashtra Digitisation and Exchange of Land Token Assets Act, abbreviated as the DELTA Act. Its enactment would establish Maharashtra as India’s pioneering state with purpose-built legislation governing blockchain property tokenization. The legislation remains under development.

India’s Securities Regulator Debuts Blockchain Bond Platform

On the federal level, the Securities and Exchange Board of India introduced a tokenized corporate debt pilot program this week through its Demat 2.0 infrastructure.

The pilot facilitated bond issuances totaling 10.25 billion rupees, approximately $107 million, across three corporations. State-owned financial institution REC secured 5 billion rupees from 18 institutional investors. Infrastructure conglomerate Larsen and Toubro obtained an identical 5 billion rupees from four investors. Financial services provider IIFL raised 250 million rupees from a single investor.

The platform operates on distributed ledger technology integrated with the Reserve Bank of India’s wholesale central bank digital currency infrastructure. Atomic settlement technology ensures simultaneous transfer of securities and payment, eliminating the conventional two-to-three day settlement period.

Participants can maintain these digital bonds in their existing Demat accounts without additional identity verification procedures. SEBI highlighted that India has become the first nation to successfully integrate native distributed ledger bond issuance, depository-managed record-keeping, and CBDC settlement within a regulated securities market framework.

Future iterations of Demat 2.0 will introduce secondary market trading capabilities and expand access to retail investors.

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