Enhancement of maiden REITs by Black stone with Embassy Group

MUMBAI: The Blackstone Group and its local partner Embassy Group is expected to set up India's first real estate investment trust (REIT) and planning to list it on domestic exchanges next year.

Embassy Property Development Chief executive for Commercial Real Estate Division Michael Holland avowed that  We have already started the ground work and waiting for some positive steps from the Government, We are evaluating all the regulatory issues and hope that we will get some clarity by next year. This was reported as a sidelines of an event here today.

He told that the company was expecting more clarity on issues like exemption from capital gains, tax and including other issues by next budget. Blackstone and local Partner Embassy Group have a joint assortment of office space in Bangalore and Pune around 16 million sq ft. By looking over the property in the top five metros they were planning to increase their office space up to 30 million sq ft. He also stated that  We will consider this assortment to have a value of USD 2 Billion on stock exchanges. Further, listing here will make more sense for our investors.

In his financial statement, the Union Minister has proclaimed real estate investment trust as a pass-through entity and other incentives with the combination of exemption form and long term gains tax. This real estate investment trust operates income making real estate properties by collecting the money from numerous investors. It is a pass-through entity where there is no need to pay corporation tax. In 2008, the government issued draft regulations for REITs and forced to give up the plans after the global financial crisis dried up investor interest and an economic downturn clouded outlook for real estate investments.