A global depository receipt (GDR and sometimes spelled depositary) is a general name for a depositary receipt where a certificate issued by a depository bank, which purchases shares of foreign companies, creates a security on a local exchange backed by those shares.
They are the global equivalent of the original American depositary receipts (ADR) on which they are based.
GDRs represent ownership of an underlying number of shares of a foreign company and are commonly used to invest in companies from developing or emerging markets by investors in developed markets.
[1] GDRs enable a company, the issuer, to access investors in capital markets outside of its home country.
If for example an Indian company which has issued ADRs in the American market wishes to further extend it to other developed and advanced countries such as in Europe, then they can sell these ADRs to the public of Europe and the same would be named as GDR.