Is it true that REITs and INVITs will be included in the Nifty Index?

That is correct. The real estate investment trusts or REITs and the Infrastructure Investment Trusts or INVITs will now be included in the Nifty index effective 30-Sep. This will be part of a series of changes made to the Nifty and other indices effective from September 2021. Most of the REIT owners have appreciated the idea as it is likely to give much better visibility and also kindle investor interest in domestic REITs and INVITs, especially institutional.

More than anything, this move will encourage institutional participation from FPIs and mutual funds in a much bigger way in REITs. Specifically, the passive index funds and ETFs, which allocate on the index composition, will now have to buy the REITs and INVITs included in the index. REITs would typically comprise commercial real estate assets, since residential is not permitted in India. INVITs are infra assets like highways & power transmission assets.

While there are a fairly largely number of registered REITs and INVITs in India, not all are listed. Currently, a total of 6 INVITs and 3 REITs are listed on the recognized stock exchanges having assets under management of Rs.164,000 crore.