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Blog » Money Management » All You Need to Know About Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs)
In this article
What is an Infrastructure Investment Trust?
InvITs in India
Earlier, the only way to invest in the infrastructure sector was by purchasing shares of
infrastructure companies directly or through Mutual Funds which invest in infrastructure8
companies. But these investments are subject to market risk and limited to only listed
companies. Now there is an alternative to such Equity investments in the infrastructure sector
– Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs).
InvITs are stock-market traded investments that allow investors to invest directly and get part
What’s
ownership in infrastructure projects. more, InvITs
are professionally
managed so they
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provide the ownership benefit to investors without any hassles related to owning or managing
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the infrastructure projects by themselves.
Why Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) are becoming Popular among Investors? | ETMONEY
In this blog, we will discuss various aspects of Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) including
what InvITs are, how they are formed, different types of InvITs, InvITs in India, how InvITs
generate returns, the taxation rules of InvITs and if they are a suitable investment for you.
They have a three-tiered management structure consisting of the sponsor, trustee, and
8
manager
However, while Mutual Funds typically invest in Equities, Debt, or Gold, the underlying assets
of an InvIT are its Infrastructure projects. So, while the performance of Mutual Funds depends
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on market movements, the performance of InvITs primarily depends on how well its
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infrastructure holdings are performing.
A unit of InvIT represents part ownership of the infrastructure assets held by the infrastructure
Trust. This entitles the unit holder(s) to receive a share of the income generated by the InvIT
from its infrastructure holdings.
After the Trustee assumes control, the Sponsor can no longer control or operate the assets of
the InvIT. These assets are now owned by the Trust and can be controlled directly.
Alternatively, the InvIT may decide to control the infrastructure assets indirectly through a
Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). In this case, the SPV directly controls the infrastructure asset
on behalf of the Trust but the InvIT must maintain at least a 50% stake in such an SPV.
The next step in the formation of an InvIT is the appointment of the manager by the Trustee. In
the case of an InvIT, two managers are appointed – an investment manager and a project
manager.
The investment manager of the InvIT is primarily responsible for ensuring that optimal returns
are generated by existing investments of the Trust. Additionally, the investment manager is
also entrusted with making investment decisions to grow the assets of the Trust further. On the
other hand, the Project Manager of the InvIT is responsible for managing the infrastructure
assets on behalf of the Trust and ensuring timely completion of under-construction
infrastructure projects.
After the appointment of the managers, the InvIT can be registered. After registration, the InvIT
can choose to get listed on stock exchanges and raise money by selling its units to the general
public. Alternatively, the InvIT may choose not to get listed on the stock exchange and raise
money by selling units to a small number of private investors.
Types of InvITs
As per current SEBI Regulations InvITs can be divided into 5 key types depending on the types
of infrastructure they own or operate: 8
2. Transport & Logistics e.g. operating highways and other toll roads
fibre networks
3. Communications e.g. optical and
telecom towers
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4. Social and Commercial Infrastructure e.g. parks
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Privately-Held InvITs:
This type of InvIT is not listed on the stock exchange and units of this type of infrastructure
trust cannot be bought or sold on a stock exchange. All units of this type of unit are held
privately by a very limited number of individuals or institutions.
Public-Listed InvITs:
After an Infrastructure Trust lists itself on the stock exchange, it is known as a public-listed
InvIT. Units of a public-listed InvIT can be bought and sold on stock exchanges by retail as
well as institutional investors. Current SEBI regulations do not require a mandatory listing
of InvITs on stock exchanges.
InvITs in India
In India, SEBI (Securities Exchange Bureau of India) first introduced InvITs along with Real
Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) as alternative investment funds in 2014. Some of the
mandatory SEBI InvITs regulations for Infrastructure Investment Trusts in India are:
An InvIT must invest at least 80% of its total assets in completed infrastructure projects
capable of generating income. The remainder of assets up to a limit of 20% held by the
InvIT can be invested in under-construction infrastructure projects and various SEBI-
approved Equity, Debt, and Money Market instruments.
InvITs must distribute at least 90% of their income to their unitholders as dividends on a
bi-annual basis.
There are currently 15 SEBI-registered InvITs in India and the first two publicly-listed ones were
India Grid Trust and IRB InvIT Fund. In May 2021, the Powergrid Infrastructure Investment Trust
completed its public listing becoming the third publicly-listed InvIT in India. Additionally, NHAI
(National Highways Authority of India) has filed with SEBI to launch its first InvIT which is
expected to be listed on exchanges in May 2021. 8
Sponsor
Manager
Usually an InvIT has two managers – an investment manager and a project manager. For
example, in the case of India Grid InvIT Fund, the investment manager is IndiGrid Investment
Manager Limited and Sterlite Power Transmission Limited acts as the project manager.
The investment manager of the Infrastructure Trust is responsible for ensuring that existing
investments of the InvIT are providing returns as per expectations. Additionally, the investment
manager is also responsible for making new investment decisions on behalf of the Trust8 to
ensure further growth of InvIT assets. The project manager is usually a company that
specializes in developing and operating infrastructure projects. The key responsibilities of a
project manager include ensuring smooth operations in the case of completed projects of the
Trust as well as timely delivery of under-construction projects.
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Trustee
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A SEBI-approved Trustee is a company that has a proven track record of providing Trusteeship
services. In the case of India Grid InvIT Fund, Axis Trustee Services Limited is the designated
trustee. Key responsibilities of a trustee include holding the assets of an InvIT in trusteeship to
safeguard the interests of the unitholders. Other responsibilities of an InvIT trustee include
ensuring timely distribution of dividends to unitholders and overseeing the activity of the InvIT
manager(s).
By forming an InvIT and selling units, the infrastructure development company is able to
raise money from multiple retail and institutional investors without incurring debt. The
infrastructure company can use this money to pay off existing debts, purchase new
assets, and/or complete under-construction projects to grow its business further.
Trusts get a variety of tax benefits not available to corporations. So by forming an InvIT, an
infrastructure company can access various tax benefits which can potentially increase the
post-tax revenue for the company. This extra revenue can also help the company grow its
business further.
This way, forming an InvIT can be a win-win for both infrastructure companies as well as
investors.
For example, suppose a bridge company charges a toll of Rs. 50 for every car crossing 8the
bridge. This toll amount is the income that the project generates. But this entire income would
not be distributed to the InvIT unitholders. Expenses such as depreciation, maintenance, cost
of operations have to be deducted from the income to arrive at the “net distributable cash
flow” or NDCF of the project.
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To understand the concept of net distributable cash flow better, let’s consider the example of
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IRB InvIT Limited, which was India’s first publicly listed InvIT. The below table shows the cash
flow statement of IRB InvIT Ltd. for FY 2020:
Cash Flow Received from SPVs (Interest and Dividend) ₹5,943 crore
As you can see, in FY 2020, IRB InvIT received over Rs. 7,800 crore in cash inflows and after
deducting outflows of over Rs. 1,743 crore, the net distributable cash flow was just over Rs.
6,000 crore.
Now as per SEBI regulations, the trust is required to mandatorily distribute at least 90% of the
NDCF to the unitholders. So IRB InvIT would have distributed 90% of Rs. 6,068 crore to its
unitholders in FY 2020.
Infrastructure Investment Trusts can distribute their net distributable cash flow in 3 ways:
Dividends:
These are distributed on a quarterly or biannual basis. The dividend is paid on a per unit basis
to the unitholder of the InvIT.
Interest:
8
Similar to dividends, interest payouts can be made by an InvIT on a quarterly or bi-annual
basis. The amount paid out as interest to unitholders is calculated after deduction of
withholding tax by the InvIT.
Capital Gains:
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Just like the price of Equity shares, the price of InvIT units is subject to change depending on
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the performance of the Infrastructure Investment Trust. When an InvIT performs well and grows
its assets over time, the price of its units increases. In this case, unitholders can sell their InvIT
units at a profit and receive Capital Gains from their investment.
Diversification:
Regular Income:
InvITs have to mandatorily distribute at least 90% of the income through dividends and
interest payouts on a bi-annual basis. Thus the investment can provide you with regular
income.
Professional Management:
While you assume part ownership of an Infrastructure asset by purchasing InvITs units, the
project is professionally managed by designated managers. This ensures optimal
performance of the infrastructure project with minimal hassles for you.
Capital Gains:
Units of an InvIT can be traded on stock exchanges similar to shares. So if the InvIT
performs well, the price of units will increase. You could potentially sell your units at8 a
profit and receive Capital Gains.
In spite of the many benefits that investing in InvITs offer, there are few key limitations of the
investment that you must keep in mind, these include:
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Possibility of Unpredictable Cash Flows:
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The dividend and Interest income from InvITs is completely taxable as per the slab rate of
the investor. So, you could end up paying up to 30% tax on dividends and interest
received from the InvIT, if you are in the highest Income Tax slab.
There are only 2 publicly-listed InvITs in India, hence your choice of investments as a
Retail Investor is very limited.
Low Liquidity:
Even though units of InvITs can be bought and sold on the stock market, the market
participation by buyers and sellers is quite low. This might make it difficult to sell InvIT
units at a reasonable price in the case of an emergency. As a result, InvIT investments
have low liquidity.
Any dividend or interest income that you get from an InvIT is completely taxable as per
your Income Tax Slab rate. This income has to be declared every year in your Income Tax
Return under the head “Income from Other Sources”. So if you are in the highest Income
Tax bracket, you may have to pay 30% tax on any dividends or interest that you receive
from an InvIT.
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Tax on Capital Gains:
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Capital Gains taxation rules are applicable only if you sell your InvITs units. If you have
stayed invested in InvITs for up to 3 years prior to the sale, Short Term Capital Gains
(STCG) taxation rules are applicable. The STCG tax rate is 15% on profits made by the sale
of InvITs units. If you hold InvITs units for over 3 years before selling them, Long Term
Capital Gains (LTCG) taxation rules are applicable. The LTCG rate is 10% of long-term gains
exceeding Rs. 1 lakh.
Another way to invest in InvITs is through mutual funds. But individual Mutual Funds are only
allowed to invest up to 5% of their total assets in alternative investment funds such as InvITs.
So your investment in the infrastructure sector through mutual funds will be very limited if you
opt for this route.
To give you an idea of why research is vital, let’s consider the example of IRB InvIT Limited.
This infrastructure trust currently collects toll from 7 road projects. Each of these projects is
different in terms of how much income it generates, for how many years toll can be collected,
etc.
Knowing these details is necessary to figure out the time period over which income from
current projects of the InvIT will be available. The below table shows some key details of the 7
projects that IRB InvIT currently operates:
8
Concession
15 12 22 25 26 20 20
period (in years)
Concession end
30 Aug 24 May 07 Oct 30 Sep 27 Apr
date with 30 Apr 2022 24 Dec 2026
2022 2037 2040 2037 2035
extension
Contribution to
15% 45% 4% 6% 15% 6% 8%
Toll Collected
As you can see, two of the current projects of IRB InvIT – IDAA Infrastructure Ltd. and Surat
Dahisar Tollway Limited are close to the end of their concession period. So from 2022, the
InvIT will not be able to collect any toll from these projects.
What’s more, Surat Dahisar Tollway Ltd. currently accounts for 45% of the total toll collected by
IRB InvIT. You will have to discover and consider all of these criteria when making your
decision whether to invest in an InvIT.
Based on these factors, the following are our observations regarding InvITs:
So, in our opinion, everyday investors should keep away from this asset class until this market
matures. But, if you love experimenting and are keen to put your research cap on, there are
various resources online that you can utilize to gain key insight into making InvIT investments.
Claim it now
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19/10/2021, 17:53 Infrastructure Investment Trusts(InvITs) in India - Structure, Types, Taxation
Let us know what you think!
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(8) Newest
Gokulanathan K
23 days ago
Hai Team, Regular follower of your content and I learned lot from your content. Thank you for your valuable
insights.
India grid Trust has been adding assets since its inception.
0 Reply
ETMONEY
22 days ago
Admin Reply to Gokulanathan K
Dear Gokulanathan K, thank you for your question. If an InvIT invests in new projects and runs them
profitably, investors can see higher dividend and interest payouts as well as an increase in the price
of the units. However, if the new projects are not profitable for any reason, the reverse can happen.
Under current rules, an InvIT is required to pay out 90% of its net income as dividend and interest to
unit holders. However, net income can be calculated after deductions are made with respect to
making investments in new projects. So, the current income of the InvIT from its operational
projects acts as the primary source of its funds for making new acquisitions. We hope this clarifies
your doubts.
1 Reply
Shweta Periwal
4 months ago
When you are covering a particular subject, like the one you have posted above, kindly also point out as to how
has the existing InvITs performed for its investors in terms of returns, at least a few of them. This will allow you
readers to be more careful. Whatever information you have provided above in readily available on the internet.
0 Reply
ETMONEY
4 months ago
Admin Reply to Shweta Periwal
8
Dear Shweta, thank you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts regarding our InvITs blog.
You are correct that we have not included any returns data in the blog. Currently there are only 2
listed InvITs in India (2 more listed ones will be launched in the coming months) and the oldest of
these was launched in 2018. As a result, no long term returns data available as of yet. We will
definitely include this information when it is available at a later date.
2
Reply
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19/10/2021, 17:53 Infrastructure Investment Trusts(InvITs) in India - Structure, Types, Taxation
Hemant Chau Blog Subscribe
4 months ago
All nonsense article , I wonders how et money dare to publish such stupid thing .very poor liquidity as well as
buyers problems on stock exchanges shows bad type of investment options for small / common man
-1 Reply
ETMONEY
4 months ago
Admin Reply to Hemant Chau
Dear Hemant, thank you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts. We regret that you did not
find our blog helpful. You do have a point that currently InvITs have low liquidity and might not be
suitable for small retail investors. That said, the same was true for the Mutual Fund industry a
couple of decades back, but now there are a multitude of options out there. As an investment
option InvITs are unique and the segment will definitely grow further over the coming years and at
that point it might be more in line with the needs of small retail investors.
0 Reply
Abhishek
4 months ago
0 Reply
ETMONEY
4 months ago
Admin Reply to Abhishek
Thank you for commenting, Abhishek. Sure, we will try to come up with a YouTube video on this
subject. Hope you will Keep sharing your feedback on our content.
0 Reply
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