SBI to launch FTSE SBI bond indices

New Delhi: State Bank of India (SBI) proposes to launch FTSE-SBI India Bond Index in association with FTSE TMX Global Debt Capital Markets in order to track Indian fixed income securities.

SBI Mutual Fund, the asset management subsidiary of SBI, intends to use the new index as the basis for a new investment product, a joint statement said.

SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said, "We are delighted to be partnering with London Stock Exchange Group to create the FTSE SBI bond indices for India."

Despite investor appetite to access India's ongoing growth story, at present Indian issuers' bonds do not have a credible global benchmark for passive investment funds that capture the Indian growth story, she said.

The FTSE SBI Indian Bond indices will be a catalyst in the ongoing development and deepening of Indian sovereign and corporate bond markets, she added.

"It will provide a benchmark for attracting passive funds into Indian bonds as an asset class. Further, it will contribute to bond liquidity and dynamic pricing, as well as enable the evolution of the secondary market for Indian issuers' bonds," she further said.