December 19, 2025
By Anjali Kochhar
For decades, ownership of India’s most valuable assets has remained concentrated in the hands of those with deep pockets. From commercial real estate to infrastructure projects, high entry costs have kept middle-income households on the sidelines. That imbalance was brought into focus in Parliament this week when Member of Parliament Raghav Chadha called for a dedicated Tokenisation Bill, arguing that technology can redraw the boundaries of who gets to invest in India’s growth.
Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha, Chadha said tokenisation could allow everyday investors to access asset classes that have traditionally been out of reach. Tokenisation uses blockchain technology to convert real-world assets into digital tokens that represent fractional ownership. This enables investors to buy smaller units of expensive assets, lowering capital requirements and improving liquidity.
According to Chadha, India’s middle class remains overly dependent on conventional investment avenues such as fixed deposits, savings accounts, gold, and mutual funds. While these instruments provide stability, they often limit wealth creation and diversification. Tokenized assets, he argued, could offer an additional layer of opportunity by opening exposure to real estate, infrastructure, and other long-term value generating assets.
The MP pointed to the broader economic impact of improved market access, noting that greater participation could deepen capital markets and improve transparency. He compared the potential shift to the adoption of digital payments in India, where technology played a key role in expanding access and reducing friction for users across income levels.
Chadha also stressed the importance of regulatory clarity. He called for a standalone legal framework for tokenisation rather than fragmented oversight, along with the creation of a regulatory sandbox to allow controlled testing of tokenized investment products. Such measures, he said, would help balance innovation with investor protection and reduce uncertainty for both startups and institutions.
Supporters of the proposal argue that without clear domestic rules, Indian innovation risks moving offshore to jurisdictions that already offer structured tokenisation frameworks. Industry voices have also emphasised the need to clearly distinguish tokenized real-world assets from speculative cryptocurrency trading, especially to build confidence among regulators and institutional investors.
As we can see the global financial systems increasingly experiment with blockchain-based infrastructure, the debate in Parliament suggests India may be approaching a policy crossroads. Whether the tokenisation proposal becomes law or not, the discussion has reopened a fundamental question for India’s markets: who gets to own the assets that drive the economy, and how wide should that door be opened.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency and blockchain stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over four years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
