Key Highlights
- Maharashtra is developing a framework to tokenize government-owned infrastructure, with electricity transmission networks as the priority
- Officials plan to unlock capital from token sales to finance new transmission capacity and solar energy storage facilities
- India’s market regulator SEBI completed a pilot program for tokenized corporate bonds worth $107 million
- The inaugural Demat 2.0 issuances involved three corporations and utilized wholesale CBDC for instant settlement
- State leadership has instructed bureaucrats to develop the DELTA Act, a blockchain-focused property tokenization statute
Officials in Maharashtra, India’s most economically powerful state, are advancing plans to digitize state-owned infrastructure using blockchain technology. Praveen Pardeshi, who leads MITRA, the state’s policy development agency, presented the initiative during an exclusive gathering organized by property tokenization platform RealX in Mumbai.
According to Pardeshi, the state’s electricity transmission network represents the primary candidate for tokenization. While these power distribution lines generate consistent revenue streams, the capital invested in them remains locked and unavailable for reallocation.
The state currently produces excess solar energy but lacks adequate transmission infrastructure to deliver it to demand centers. Tokenizing portions of existing grid assets could address this infrastructure bottleneck, Pardeshi explained.
Structure of the Proposed Tokenization Model
Under the proposed framework, approximately 40% to 50% of transmission infrastructure would be converted into digital tokens. Investors holding these tokens would earn returns based on the revenue generated by the underlying assets. Capital raised through token sales would be channeled into constructing additional transmission capacity and solar storage infrastructure.
Pardeshi emphasized that this approach differs fundamentally from privatization. “Tokenization doesn’t mean privatization wholesale; it means circulating the capital to a larger number of holders,” he explained.
As a precedent, he referenced Express Towers, a Mumbai commercial property that was successfully tokenized through a Real Estate Investment Trust framework.
Maharashtra’s electricity market dynamics strengthen the economic rationale. Distribution utilities pay between 16 and 18 rupees per kilowatt-hour during peak demand periods, while electricity trades for as low as 2 paisa during surplus generation hours. Enhanced transmission networks and storage capacity, financed through tokenized assets, could narrow this substantial pricing differential.
This tokenization initiative runs parallel to legislative development. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis instructed officials in July to create the Maharashtra Digitisation and Exchange of Land Token Assets Act, abbreviated as the DELTA Act. Upon enactment, Maharashtra would become India’s inaugural state with comprehensive blockchain-based property tokenization legislation. The proposed statute remains under development.
SEBI Executes Tokenized Corporate Bond Program
On the federal level, the Securities and Exchange Board of India initiated a pilot for tokenized corporate debt securities this week through the Demat 2.0 infrastructure.
Three corporations collectively raised 10.25 billion rupees, approximately $107 million, during the trial phase. Government-backed financial institution REC secured 5 billion rupees from 18 institutional investors. Infrastructure conglomerate Larsen and Toubro obtained an additional 5 billion rupees from four participants. Financial services provider IIFL raised 250 million rupees from a single investor.
The infrastructure employs a distributed ledger integrated with the Reserve Bank of India’s wholesale central bank digital currency platform. Atomic settlement ensures simultaneous transfer of securities and payment, eliminating the conventional two-to-three day settlement window.
Market participants can maintain these bonds in standard Demat accounts without additional identity verification requirements. SEBI highlighted that India has become the first jurisdiction to integrate native distributed ledger bond issuance, depository custody, and CBDC settlement within a regulated financial infrastructure framework.
Future iterations of Demat 2.0 will introduce secondary market trading capabilities and retail investor participation.
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