India local government bonds added to key JPMorgan index, to trigger billions in inflows

JPMorgan on Friday said it will include India in its widely-tracked emerging market debt index, setting the stage for billions of dollars of inflows into the world's fifth-largest economy.

India's local bonds will be included in the Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) index and all the index suite, including select bonds in an investment grade-only index.

JPMorgan said 23 Indian Government Bonds (IGBs) with a combined notional value of $330 billion are eligible.

Inclusion will start on June 28, 2024, and extend over 10 months with 1% increments on its index weighting, as India is expected to reach the maximum weighting of 10%, JPMorgan said.

India began discussion on including its debt in global indexes in 2019, while also talking to Euroclear about clearing and settlement.