Summary: SEBI has recently approved various rule changes for intermediaries such as stock-brokers, REITs/ InvITs, IAs, RAs, FPIs, and angel funds, with a view to ease entry norms and compliance obligations, provide flexibility and to attract more retail and foreign investments. This paper summarises the key changes and their implications for intermediaries.Continue Reading FIG Paper No. 50: Recent SEBI Changes – Implications for Intermediaries
Summary: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014, originally published on September 26, 2014, have undergone extensive amendments over the past decade to adapt to evolving market conditions and enhance the regulatory framework for infrastructure investment trusts (“InvITs”), reflecting the regulator’s response to market developments and operational experience. The recent Securities and Exchange Board of India (Infrastructure Investment Trust) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2025, effective September 1, 2025, represents further progress in regulatory development. Key updates include refining the definition of “public” to exclude related parties, reducing minimum investment thresholds from Rs 1 crore to Rs 25 lakh, aligning reporting timelines with SEBI specified deadlines, and introducing enhanced valuation requirements for highly leveraged InvITs. By way of this amendment, SEBI continues responding swiftly to market reactions and the operational realities of the existing legal framework for InvITs.Continue Reading Key Amendments To Securities And Exchange Board Of India (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014
The infrastructure sector is a key driver for any economy. Among the many avenues of financing large-scale investments in infrastructure, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and capital raising, setting-up and establishing infrastructure investment trusts (“InvITs”) has begun to gain traction with developers of infrastructure projects, including by public sector undertakings, to enable them to monetise their assets and undertake further infrastructure development. In the last few months, an increasing interest has also been evinced by large private equity firms, development institutions and multilateral and bilateral financial institutions in not only investing in the units of InvITs, but also in setting-up InvITs either on their own or jointly with Indian developers due to the yields offered by InvITs and the favourable and welcome changes to the tax regime applicable to InvITs, including unlisted InvITs.
Continue Reading Infrastructure Investment Trusts – Simplifying the Structure
As you are aware, the Finance Minister, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, presented the Union Budget 2020-2021 on February 1, 2020 and consequently, introduced the Finance Bill, 2020 (“Bill”) in the Lok Sabha. The Bill comprised the financial proposals, including taxation related proposals, to amend the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (“Income-tax Act”) for the financial year 2021. Subsequently, the Finance Minister and her team had several discussions with various stakeholders, who we understand made many representations, seeking changes in some of the proposals. Pursuant to this, amendments to the Bill were presented and the Bill, incorporating the amendments was passed by the parliament on March 26, 2020 and received the assent of the President of India on March 27, 2020. It has now been enacted as the Finance Act, 2020 (“Finance Act”).
Continue Reading UPDATE: Tax implications on INVITs, REITs and its Unitholders under Finance Act 2020