Mumbai: The share of unlisted bonds in India's aggregate corporate debt sales has risen steadily as even highly rated companies, including the likes of Bajaj Finance and Vedanta, choose negotiated deals with a select bunch of buyers to avoid extensive disclosures and compliance checklists that apply to listed securities, market participants said.Also, there is a business case for unlisted bonds when the issue size is relatively smaller, according to experts.
Unlisted bonds accounted for 40% of total corporate bond issuances in May 2026, up from 31% in May 2025, market data showed.
Of the total ₹94,749 crore of corporate bonds issued in May this year, unlisted debt accounted for ₹38,487 crore.Several large borrowings in the unlisted space have also been lined up for July.
These deals are negotiated one-on-one between the issuer and the investor, and lately the proportion of unlisted and unrated bonds has been increasing, said Venkatakrishnan Srinivasan, managing partner, Rockfort Fincap, a debt advisory firm.
Also, unlisted bonds do not necessarily come from lower-rated companies.
