New Delhi, Dec. 18 -- India's capital markets have grown by leaps and bounds since 1991, when economic liberalization began. Be it in terms of participation or infrastructure, they now compare with the best in the world. But this boom has been all but stolen by the equity market.

When it comes to the market for debt, especially corporate bonds, ours lags woefully behind those of not just advanced countries, but many of our peers as well. Globally, the bond market is much larger ($140 trillion) than the equity market ($115 trillion). But India is an exception. Not only is our debt market dominated heavily by government securities (G-Secs), the value of all outstanding bonds is just 50-60% of the country's equity market capitalization.

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