In a move that would offer new way of funding for country’s cash strapped property developers, market watchdog- Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved setting up of real estate investment trusts (REITs), which are nothing but listed entities that mainly invest in income-producing real estate assets, the earnings of which are mostly distributed to their shareholders.
However, SEBI allowed this with certain riders, with the first being, REITs should have an asset pool of at-least Rs 500 crore and secondly, having an initial issue of at-least Rs 250 crore for shareholders. Additionally, it allowed these entities to only invest in commercial properties.
Besides, the market regulator also allowed infrastructure investment trusts -- A REIT-like structure that would allow developers to monetize their infrastructure assets through a stock exchange listing.
Sooner than later, REIT finally saw the light of the day, as the trust originally was supposed to get an approval from SEBI, back in October, but the plan was delayed amid uncertainty about the taxation structure for the new instrument. However, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, In his budget address last month, paved the way for REITs and infrastructure trusts by announcing tax benefits for both.
In a related development, SEBI underscored that it would simplify registration procedure for stock brokers and clearing members, allowing them to obtain a unified registration for doing business in all the stock exchanges and depositories in the country.
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