REITs are showing robust growth following government support

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Alok Aggarwal, MD & CEO, Brookfield India Real Estate Trust & Chairperson, Indian REITs Association, said that the sector is showing robust growth backed by the government support and policies.

"In terms of unit holders, they were just 6,000 in 2019, and they increased to a whopping 3 lakh now. So you can see the kind of growth we are having. So we think every year at least one REIT will get listed," Aggarwal told ANI on the sidelines of Bharat InvITs Association and Indian REITs Association here today.

REITs in real estate are like mutual funds in equities; they are investment vehicles that own or operate income-generating real estate, enabling investors to earn a share of the income produced without directly purchasing the property.

Aggarwal said that the sector is growing pretty well. A few years back, our market capitalisation was 1 lakh crore rupees, and now it has risen by 50 per cent.

"Today, we have Rs. 1.5 lakh crores of market capitalisation of REITs. Till now they have distributed around 25,000 crore of distribution, he said.

The AUM of Indian REIT market stands at 2.25 lakh crore rupees as of Q4, FY2025. REITs are tax-efficient vehicles that distribute at least 90 per cent of their net distributable cash flow on a semi-annual basis.

Total distributions were 1559 crore rupees to over 2.7 lakh unit holders during Q1, FY26, 13% up during same period last year, he said.

For REITs, the future is very bright as you see there are just 5 REITs in India and we have huge potential to grow, Aggarwal told ANI.

Globally there are over 200 office REITs. So there is a large office portfolio of assets, he said. That is going to be listed in times to come.

"Regulation has been very helpful to us. Without their handholding, I don't think so we would be able to reach here," he said.

Aggarwal also added that the minimum Investment size of 2 lakh rupees earlier now reduced to 50,000 rupees.

"In terms of participation in mutual funds there is gap of 10 per cent that can become 20 per cent. In terms of holding period for capital gain tax that has become big plus by government. Government has become very helpful. This is probably one reason why sector is doing very well till now", he said. (ANI)