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In a country like India, which has a huge and ever-growing capital funding requirement, the importance of a corporate debt market cannot be highlighted enough. Despite policy pushes and various measures that have been introduced on the regulatory front, India’s corporate debt market is still largely untapped.

The panel discussion organised by the Bombay Chamber of Commerce & Industry saw two knowledge-driven sessions from industry experts who gave their insights on the topic of Corporate Debt Market in India: Issues and Challenges.

Opening the event, Mr Nilesh Shah, President, Bombay Chamber, Group President & Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra AMC and Part-Time Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, spoke about the Chamber’s role in acting as a bridge between civil society, government and its member organisations. He also highlighted the two contradicting factors present in the debt market today – our infrastructure which is at par with the best in the world, and the need to have a more efficient and vibrant debt market, especially with India looking to grow from about 3.5 trillion dollar GDP to a higher level, to provide capital for funding that kind of growth.

The keynote speaker, Shri T. Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor, RBI, laid the grounds for the discussions, highlighting the importance of corporate bonds, the concerted efforts the Government, SEBI and the Reserve Bank have been taking to facilitate the development of the corporate bond market in India, the current status of resource mobilisation through the market, liquidity metrics that exist in the market, development of the complementary market and the need to focus on improving complementary– repo and derivative – markets, diversifying the investor base, both domestic and global, improving access of borrowers at the lower end of the credit spectrum and tempering expectations around the secondary market.

The first session, moderated by Ms Latha Venkatesh, Executive Editor CNBC, saw an insightful discussion by panellists, Mr Nilesh Shah, Group President & MD, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co. Ltd, Mr Neeraj Gambhir, Group Executive, Axis Bank, Mr Jayesh Mehta, MD & Country Treasurer, Bank Of America, on the topic Learnings from the Past and Present to Create A Vibrant Debt Market Future.

The second session, moderated by Mr Tamal Bandyopadhyay, Consulting Editor, Business Standard, saw eminent speakers Mr Rajiv Anand, Deputy Managing Director, Axis Bank, Mr Abizer Diwanji, Head Financial Services, Ernst & Young LLP, Mr Suresh Krishnamurthy, Senior Director – Market Intelligence & Analytic CRISIL, Prof Ananth Narayan, Associate Professor(Adjunct), Finance & Economics, SPJIMR, share their insights on the topic, Role Of Debt Market – Funding India’s Journey To $5 Trillion Economy.