Legal Analysis of Real Estate Investment Trust Regulation in India

Abstract

As has been the case around the world, the real estate sector has played a pivotal role in the overall growth process of the Indian economy. Since the privatisation of the Indian economy in 1991, the government of India has introduced a variety of investment instruments to capture the interest of millions of potential investors over the last three decades. One such instrument is the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). In order to make the market more accessible to investors interested in REIT investments, the Draft Regulations were introduced in 2007. Following numerous modifications, the REIT regulations were finally ratified in 2014 by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The Indian REIT regulations are aimed at providing an organized market of retail investors in aprofessionally managed ecosystem. However, since its launch in 2014, the REIT regime in India has failed to attract the expected number of investors. Through this paper, the legal structure of REITs in India is reflected, along with changes experienced up to the 2019 amendment. This study also takes a comparative approach in examining the structural aspects of Indian regulations in comparison to those of other countries, and comes up with some recommendations for the improvement of REIT regulations in India.