Lok Sabha Question No. 1298 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-25
Subject: Bond Market
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Adala Prabhakara Reddy, L.S. Tejasvi Surya

## GOVERNMENT OF NNDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1298 TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER/ AGRAHAYANA 4, 1941 (SAKA) 25TH

## BOND MARKET

## QUESTION

## 1298. SHRI ADALA PRABHAKARA REDDY: SHRI LS.TEJASVI SURYA:

Will the Minister of Finance be pleased to state:

- (a): whether development of the bond market requires & lot of attention and unified approach by all regulators and if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken to adopt this approach; being
- (c): whether the Government has taken cognizance of India securing 163rd rank in Enforcing Contracts category in Ease of Business Rankings, 2019; and Doing
- (b): the status of the budget announcement regarding issuance of Sovereign Bonds in foreign currencies with the proposed date for commencement of issuance of such bonds; along
- (d): if so, the measures taken by the Government to improve India'$ ranking in Enforcing Contracts category?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR)

(a): Yes sir; development of bond market requires & unified approach by all regulators. Bond market consists of primarily two segments: Government Bonds regulated by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Corporate Bonds regulated by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). However; both markets use the infrastructures as trading platforms, depositories and clearing entities regulated by the other regulators for the issue and trading of bonds: For instance, government securities are permitted to be traded on the stock exchanges directly regulated by SEBI Further, access of and investment conditions  for respective entities like pension funds, insurance companies,  mutual  funds, banks etc. in  corporate bonds and   government   securities are regulated by their respective regulators Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Insurance Regulatory with various sectoral regulators for the development of corporate bonds are listed as under: such like,

- a) Development of the repo market on corporate bonds by RBI and SEBI;
- c) Inter-operability of depositories regulated by RBI and SEBI;
3. Various sectoral regulators permitting their regulated entities to invest in corporate bonds of certain and above; rating grade
- d) Development of a Credit Default (CDS) market which would enable better management of credit risk of corporate bonds etc. Swap

Government would start borrowing   programme in external market in external currencies   Administrative, procedural and legal aspects of this will need to be worked out in detail before any date of issuance. raising fixing

(c): Yes sir; India ranks in the category of *Enforcing contracts as per the report of World Bank Group on Business, 2019. 163rd Doing

(d): The Commercial Courts Act, 2015 has been amended to reduce the pecuniary jurisdiction of commercial courts from INR 1 crore to INR 3 lakh to establish commercial courts at the District Level. Creation of 22 dedicated commercial courts have been approved in Delhi and 16 dedicated commercial courts in Mumbai.