A company proposes to get its NON-CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES (debentures) LISTED on a stock exchange. Under the SEBI (Issue and Listing of Non-Convertible Securities) Regulations, 2021, a precondition for such listing is, inter alia, that the securities carry:

The NCS Regulations, 2021 require, as a condition for the public issuance and listing of non-convertible securities, that the securities have obtained a CREDIT RATING from a credit rating agency REGISTERED with SEBI; for a public issue, an investment-grade rating is required for listing, and the issuer must also maintain the rating as a continuing obligation. The rating assures investors of the credit quality of the debt instrument. Without the prescribed rating, listing of the NCS cannot proceed. The investment-grade-rating precondition is a defining feature of the listed corporate-debt regime.