SEBI-registered credit rating agencies and the research, analytics and index businesses built around them.
CRISILOperator · HighListed
ICRAOperator · HighListed
CARE RatingsOperator · HighListed
India Ratings & Research (Fitch)Operator · HighUnlisted
Where it fits
Grades the credit risk of bonds, commercial paper, bank loans and securitised debt, paid by the issuer; surveils every rating each year; and sells research, data, risk tools and benchmarks to banks, funds and global clients.
Why it matters
Every listed bond and most large bank loans need a rating, so agency income grows with India's corporate bond market and bank credit. CRISIL and ICRA are majority-owned by S&P and Moody's and do large global research and analytics work, making them partly an export-services play.
Where the value pool sits
Ratings are an oligopoly (CRISIL, ICRA, CARE, India Ratings lead) with initial fees plus annual surveillance fees. Domestic ratings are cyclical with bond issuance; research and analytics (CRISIL's global benchmarking, ICRA's analytics arm) add steadier revenue.
Key drivers
Corporate bond and infrastructure financing growth (InvITs, REITs, municipal bonds)
Bank-loan ratings under Basel norms
Global research and analytics outsourcing to India
Potential bottlenecks
Issuer-pays model invites rating-shopping; SEBI tightens disclosure
Bond issuance falls when yields rise (corporate bond issuance dropped in the Apr-Jun 2026 quarter)