Budget 2014-15 ("Budget") has
introduced tax incentives for the real estate investment trusts
("REITs") regime, and also provided for
relaxations in foreign direct investment
("FDI") regime. With the tax incentives
in place, the Securities and Exchange Board of India
("SEBI") is likely to formally announce
the REIT regulations that are currently in draft form. In this
hotline, we discuss some of the key changes and its Budget 2014
impact on the real estate sector. For a detailed analysis of the
impact of Budget 2014-15 on other aspects as well, please refer to
our hotline "India Budget 2014: New Beginnings and New
Direction".
CHANGES IN RELATION TO REITs
1. Background
As a background, the Securities and Exchange Board of India
("SEBI") had released the draft
regulations on REITs ("Draft
Regulations") for comments on October 10,
2013. The Draft Regulations as released are available here. Though the Draft Regulations were
received positively, it was imperative