CRISIL Ratings projected that India’s corporate bond market would reach ₹ 100–120 lakh crore by financial year 2030 — option 1.

What the projection said. The outstanding stock of corporate bonds stood at roughly ₹ 45 lakh crore at the end of financial year 2024. CRISIL expected it to more than double by 2030, to the ₹ 100–120 lakh crore range — implying a compound growth rate of about 14 to 15 per cent a year.

What is expected to drive it. Three forces were identified. First, the sheer scale of infrastructure investment planned under the National Infrastructure Pipeline, which banks alone cannot finance because of exposure limits and asset-liability mismatch. Second, the growth of long-term institutional money — insurance funds, pension funds, the National Pension System and mutual funds — which naturally seeks long-dated rupee paper. Third, regulatory measures: the Securities and Exchange Board of India has required large corporate borrowers to raise a share of their incremental borrowing from the bond market, and has pushed for electronic book building, tighter disclosure and better secondary-market liquidity.

Why a deep bond market matters. India has historically been a bank-dominated economy, which concentrates credit risk in the banking system and limits the tenor of available finance. A corporate bond market spreads that risk across many investors, prices it transparently, and provides the twenty-year money that roads, ports and power projects require. This is why the size of the market is treated as a measure of financial-sector depth.

Hence, the answer is ₹ 100-120 lakh crore.