HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank have purchased India's first tokenized bond issued by state-owned REC, using central bank digital currency (CBDC) for atomic settlement. The transaction marks the official launch of India's tokenized bond market and could set a precedent for global financial infrastructure evolution.

Microsoft said on August 7 that its fourth cloud region in India, India South Central, has gone live in Hyderabad. The new region includes three availability zones and uses a resilient design built to meet Indian regulatory requirements as well as local seismic-zone standards, allowing it to support large-scale mission-critical workloads. With the launch, Microsoft said it now operates four cloud regions in India and has become the country’s largest hyperscale cloud provider. The company said the new region will give Indian enterprises more local deployment options as they modernize critical systems for the AI era, build new digital services, and move AI initiatives into measurable business results within enterprise-grade security, compliance, and governance frameworks. Microsoft also said early access demand has been strong, with companies including Adani Group, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, and PB Pay among early adopters. It added that Azure has maintained strong double-digit growth in India over the past two years, and that the new region is expected to accelerate that momentum.

Binance still lacks direct INR spot pairs despite FIU-IND registration. The key hurdles are banking integration and RBI rules. Watch for bank partnerships, TDS cuts, and SEBI circulars in 2026 as potential triggers.

HDFC Bank reported stronger-than-expected Q2 profit, driven by nearly 10% loan growth and improving asset quality. However, margin pressure and post-merger deposit challenges remain key concerns for investors.