The team at IndiaBonds.com has collated data of India’s Total Outstanding Bonds. The source of the data is Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The total outstanding Bond market stood at ~INR 238 lac crores (US$ 2.78 trillion) at the end of 31st March 2025 (Source: CCIL, SEBI). The market grew by 10.2% from INR 216 lac crores in FY 2023-24.

The corporate Bonds market stood at 22.51% of the overall market size and outpaced the overall growth standing at INR 53.64 lac crores or +13.4% when compared with FY 2023-24.

Interestingly the corporate bond market contributed 29% of the overall growth of the bond market and grew by INR 6.4 lac crores (US$ 60 billion) versus overall bond market expansion by INR 22.09 lac crores.

The growth in the corporate bond market can be attributed to various factors :

• Emergence of SEBI-regulated Online Bond Platforms (OBPs) which is accelerating retailisation and transparency in the corporate bond markets
• Declining interest rate cycles coupled with equity volatility which has shifted asset allocation to and demand for fixed income securities
• Slower transmission of interest rate cuts in the banking sector making the capital markets access more lucrative for corporates

In the Central Government securities section Treasury Bills, Floating Rate Bonds, Uday Bonds and Special securities declined in size YoY. Government securities stood at INR 108 lac crores (+9.85%), SDL at INR 63.15 lac crores (+14.47%), Treasury Bills at INR 7.9 lac crores (-9.3%).

Also Read: IREDA Receives Approval to Raise Funds via 54EC Bonds 

The change in the composition of Central Government securities points to more long-term funding secured as dependence on T-Bills is on the decline as well as the rise in direct funding at State Government level.

The outlook for corporate bond market growth remains bullish for FY 2025-26as much of the conditions mentioned above remain the same. We continue to be in a downward interest rate cycle faced with economic and global political uncertainties. The number of transactions in retail segment continue to grow exponentially this year after a reported 327% growth in number of transactions last year according to a report by BSE.

The team at IndiaBonds.com has collated data on the Trades in Corporate Bonds in India. The source of the data is Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

For FY 24-25 this volume stood at INR 17.1 lac crores (~US$200bn) which is a +24.5% jump from previous year where volumes were almost flat lining for 7 years! However, the number of trades fell to ~11.9 lacs (1.19 million). Remember the entire corproate bond market stood at US$ 627 billion at FY 24-25 (+13.42% vs FY 23-24).

What's exciting is that for the 4 months of FY 25-26 we are already at a traded volume INR 8.47 lac crores which if annualised (3x for 12 months) will make the volume grown by a staggering 48.5% for FY 25-26. But here is the gem .. the growing power of retail - number of trades are already at 6.9 lacs and when annualised could reach 20.69 lacs (2.07 million) implying a 74% jump!!

The above are base and linear annualised estimates. Of course, we could get variations - up or down - as we progress into the seasonality of the full financial year. However, the writing on the wall is clear. After flat lining for 6-7 years > The corporate bond market in India is undergoing a cathartic change with the advent of OBPPs.