The rise in retail surge has witnessed the number of trades in secondary corporate bonds at an all-time high with the total trades registered at 16.2 lakh in the first eight months of FY26, comfortably surpassing the previous peak of 13.46 lakh set in FY21. The momentum is equally striking in value terms: by November, nearly Rs 15 lakh crore worth of bonds had changed hands, closing in on the Rs 17 lakh crore clocked through the whole of FY25.
OBP Catalyst
“Behind this surge lies a quiet but powerful shift in investor behaviour, said Vishal Goenka, co-Founder, Indiabonds. He further added that the “online bond platforms (OBPs), aided by weak equities and falling rates, have triggered an explosion in secondary corporate bond trades.
By democratising access and investor education, OBPs have made retailisation of the corporate bond market an irreversible trend.” At the current run rate, Goenka expects FY26 volumes to cross a new milestone of Rs 22.45 lakh crore, a jump of 31% year‑on‑year.
| Period | Total Trades | Total Amount (in Rs Cr) |
| FY 17 | 661,713 | 1,148,544.35 |
| FY 18 | 558,162 | 1,453,339.00 |
| FY 19 | 599,701 | 1,445,402.51 |
| FY 20 | 1,082,921 | 1,493,139.69 |
| FY 21 | 1,346,218 | 1,488,250.13 |
| FY 22 | 1,306,186 | 1,311,561.20 |
| FY 23 | 1,305,931 | 1,357,109.98 |
| FY 24 | 1,291,437 | 1,373,394.02 |
| FY 25 | 1,190,822 | 1,709,932.54 |
| FY 26# | 1,621,387 | 1,496,716.68 |