More than 10 companies line up to start REITs

In the wake of the budget proposal last week, several real estate companies and private equity funds are planning to list their commercial property portfolio through the real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the near future.

Updated on: Jul 15, 2014, 23:36:07 IST

Hindustan Times | By Vandana Ramnani, New Delhi

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In the wake of the budget proposal last week, several real estate companies and private equity funds are planning to list their commercial property portfolio through the real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the near future. These include Embassy group, DLF, RMZ Corp, Xander, Red Fort Capital among others, all of which have accumulated income generating commercial assets.

“There are over 10 companies that are in different stages of preparing a portfolio that can be ‘reited’,” said Anckur Srivasttava, chairman of GenReal Property Advisers.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley had proposed incentives for real estate investment trusts or REITS, which are listed entities that primarily invest in leased office and retail assets, allowing developers to raise funds by selling completed buildings to investors and listing them as a trust.

REITs seek to reduce the pressure on the banking system and make available a new avenue of equity to cash-strapped developers. The budget seeks to provide a pass-though status to REITS for the purpose of taxation, which means a REITS holder will pay tax on the income, not the fund.

“We will certainly look forward to launching REITS in the near future,” said a DLF spokesperson. The company has 28 million square feet of leased assets.

“For future commercial properties, we will look at REIT when the need arises,” said Brotin Banerjee, MD and CEO, Tata Housing.

The Blackstone Group and its local partner Embassy Group are also planning to list REITs on the domestic exchange. “We will certainly list our properties through REITs after the fine details on the taxation and regulatory aspects are ironed out,” said Mike Holland, chief executive officer, Embassy Office Parks.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vandana Ramnani
Vandana Ramnani leads the real estate vertical at Hindustan Times Digital, bringing over two decades of journalism experience across real estate, education, human resources, and foreign affairs. She specialises in India’s real estate sector, covering residential and commercial markets in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, with in-depth reporting on regulatory developments, urban policy, housing trends, and interviews with industry leaders. Her work has also appeared in the Hindustan Times newspaper and HT Estates. Earlier, Vandana played a key role in establishing the real estate vertical at Moneycontrol (NW18 Group), shaping its editorial direction and market coverage. She has also written extensively on international education for HT Education, tracking global study destinations, policy changes, and student mobility trends, earning the Singapore Education Award 2009 for Best Media Coverage (Print). Her reporting portfolio includes human resources and employment trends for HT ShineJobs and PowerJobs, as well as lifestyle and interior design features for HT Premium Homes. Vandana began her career with the Press Trust of India, gaining strong editorial and reporting expertise. She was also selected for a prestigious fellowship at Fondation Journalistes en Europe in Paris, where she wrote for EuroMag. One of her notable reporting assignments included covering Germany’s capital relocation from Bonn to Berlin. Outside of journalism, Vandana is a passionate traveller, constantly seeking out charming hideaways across India and the lesser-known, offbeat corners of Southeast Asia.Read More

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