Maharashtra is developing a pioneering blockchain-based policy to tokenise up to 50% of its power transmission assets, unlocking capital and easing grid bottlenecks, while India advances its digital bond market through tokenised corporate debt pilots.
Maharashtra is preparing a policy that could put part of its state-owned infrastructure on blockchain, with electricity transmission assets at the centre of the plan. According to Praveen Pardeshi, chief executive of the state policy body MITRA, the idea is to unlock capital tied up in power lines that generate stable fees but are difficult to redeploy into new projects. The proposal would use tokenisation to raise money for fresh transmission capacity and solar storage, easing a grid bottleneck in India’s richest state.
Pardeshi said the state is looking at tokenising roughly 40% to 50% of the transmission network, while stressing that the approach is not the same as privatisation. Instead, token holders would receive a share of the income from the underlying assets, with the capital recycled into new infrastructure. He pointed to existing real estate tokenisation structures, including Express Towers in Mumbai, as evidence that the model can work in regulated form.
The timing matters because Maharashtra has been wrestling with a power imbalance: surplus solar generation at some times of day, but not enough transmission capacity to move that electricity where it is needed. Pardeshi said distribution companies may pay 16 to 18 rupees per unit during peak periods, while power on the exchange can fall to as little as 2 paisa during surplus hours. He argued that better storage and transmission, financed through tokenised assets, could narrow that gap. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has also instructed officials to draft a separate blockchain property law, the Maharashtra Digitisation and Exchange of Land Token Assets Act, or DELTA Act, which would be the first such state law if enacted.
At the national level, India’s securities regulator has moved ahead with a separate tokenisation pilot for corporate debt. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has launched Demat 2.0, a test programme for issuing and settling tokenised corporate bonds on distributed ledger technology linked to the Reserve Bank of India’s wholesale central bank digital currency. Business Standard and other Indian outlets said three companies have already issued a combined 1,025 crore rupees, or about $107 million, under the pilot. The issuers included REC, Larsen and Toubro, and IIFL Finance, with the first transaction routed through the Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India’s electronic bond platform.
SEBI says the system is designed to make bond issuance, servicing and settlement faster and less prone to error, while keeping the instruments inside existing market infrastructure. Because investors can hold the bonds in their current demat accounts without fresh know-your-customer checks, the scheme is intended to reduce friction rather than replace the current market structure. Later phases are expected to add secondary trading and, eventually, retail participation, suggesting that India is testing tokenisation not as a niche experiment but as a possible upgrade to parts of its financial plumbing.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
