SEBI Launches Pan-India Outreach to Boost Corporate Bond Market Participation

• SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey inaugurated a nationwide program to promote corporate bonds, emphasizing their necessity for India's growth beyond bank credit.
• The initiative aims to understand why many issuers avoid bond markets and what changes are needed to make this funding route more efficient.
• Despite significant growth in investor participation in equity markets, awareness of corporate bonds as an investment product remains low (10%).
• The corporate bond market is heavily skewed towards highly-rated issuers and financial institutions, with limited secondary market liquidity and retail participation.
• SEBI seeks feedback on challenges like credit ratings, documentation, and compliance, and is exploring Union Budget proposals to enhance market liquidity and price discovery.