India’s securities regulator, SEBI, advances its cybersecurity strategy by embedding quantum resilience and exploring tokenisation, positioning itself as a global leader in digital asset regulation amid evolving cryptographic threats.
India’s markets regulator has sharpened its focus on quantum computing, setting out a wider plan to protect the country’s securities infrastructure from cryptographic risks that could emerge as the technology matures. In its 2025-26 annual report, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said it has made quantum resilience a formal part of its cybersecurity strategy, in line with the National Quantum Mission, and has instructed regulated entities to map their cryptographic assets and prepare for a shift to post-quantum methods.
The report goes well beyond broad intent. SEBI says firms under its watch must identify where encryption is used, assess post-quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution, improve their ability to swap cryptographic systems without major disruption, monitor developments continuously and build transition plans alongside staff training. The regulator itself has set out a three-stage internal approach, described as discover, observe and transform, as it prepares for threats such as data being stored now and decrypted later, or digital signatures being forged in the future.
That push was reinforced on 17 August 2026, when SEBI chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey told a symposium in Mumbai that companies need a clear inventory of their cryptographic weaknesses before they can move towards post-quantum standards. According to SEBI, the regulator has also run workshops with the Data Security Council of India and more than 100 representatives of regulated entities to build awareness of the issue and discuss migration strategies.
SEBI also disclosed a larger role in global rule-setting. It has been named vice-chair of the International Organization of Securities Commissions’ Quantum Computing Working Group and is also part of the group’s Tokenisation Working Group, giving India a seat in international discussions on both quantum preparedness and digital asset infrastructure. The annual report says SEBI has contributed to work on assessing global quantum readiness and reviewing risk-management approaches for post-quantum migration.
Tokenisation remains on the agenda, though without a fresh timetable. The report keeps a corporate bond tokenisation pilot among SEBI’s forward priorities, following earlier remarks by Pandey that the project would test whether distributed ledger technology can improve settlement speed, transparency and liquidity in the debt market. Business Standard and other Indian business publications reported in May that the idea was being explored with a possible six-to-nine-month rollout window, but the annual report stops short of confirming dates or participants.
SEBI’s broader technology roadmap also points to longer-term change across market infrastructure. A working group led by D.B. Phatak of IIT Bombay has been tasked with drawing up five-year and 10-year plans for exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories, including possible use of distributed ledger technology, tokenisation, quantum-safe systems, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. For now, the message is cautious but clear: India’s securities regulator wants its market infrastructure ready before the next wave of computing risk arrives.
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