Bloomberg Defers Decision on India’s Inclusion in Global Aggregate Index

Bloomberg Index Services has deferred a decision on including Indian government bonds in its Global Aggregate Index, saying recent market reforms need more time to become established in day-to-day operations.

Bloomberg said India’s government bondmarket had made meaningful progress towards meeting the standards required for inclusion, citing the expansion of electronic trading and the removal of withholding and capital gains taxes for eligible foreign investors.

However, feedback from market participants indicated that automated trading had not yet been fully implemented across all major investor regions. Investors also sought further improvements in account opening, onboarding and other operational processes.

Bloomberg said inclusion in its flagship global investment-grade bond index required not only regulatory and market-structure reforms, but also evidence that the market could operate efficiently for the broad range of investors tracking the benchmark.

The index provider did not specify when it would make a final decision. It said it would continue consultations and provide a further update as the review progressed.

The decision delays another potential source of index-linked foreign inflows into Indian government securities.

Indian bonds began entering JPMorgan’s Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets Global Diversified in June 2024. The inclusion was phased in over 10 months, with India eventually reaching the benchmark’s 10% country-weight ceiling.

Bloomberg had separately started including eligible Indian government bonds in its Emerging Market Local Currency Government Index in January 2025.

FTSE Russell began adding Fully Accessible Route-eligible Indian government bonds to its Emerging Markets Government Bond Index in September 2025. The inclusion was also implemented gradually.

These indices are focused primarily on emerging-market debt. The Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index has a wider investor base and tracks investment-grade bonds across developed and emerging markets.

Inclusion could therefore bring demand from global bond funds, pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors that benchmark their portfolios against the Global Aggregate Index.

Bloomberg’s decision indicates that the remaining concerns are now centred less on formal access to Indian bonds and more on trading, settlement and onboarding practices.

Indian government securities eligible under the Reserve Bank of India’s Fully Accessible Route can be purchased by foreign investors without investment limits.

The earlier JPMorgan, Bloomberg emerging-market and FTSE inclusions have already increased the role of index-linked investors in the domestic bond market. Inclusion in the Global Aggregate Index would widen that investor base further, but Bloomberg’s latest announcement leaves the timing uncertain.