InvITs in India 2026: How to Invest, Distributions Explained, and 5 Listed Trusts Compared

By Nitish Bharadwaj · Published Jul 17, 2026 · 7 min

Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) are SEBI-regulated vehicles that pool investor capital to own and operate infrastructure assets — roads, power lines, gas pipelines — and must distribute at least 90% of net distributable cash flows quarterly. Five InvITs are currently listed on NSE/BSE: IRB InvIT, PowerGrid InvIT, India Grid Trust, NDR InvIT, and Highway Infrastructure Trust. This guide explains how to buy units through a demat account, how distributions are taxed, and how InvITs compare to REITs and direct infrastructure exposure.

Infrastructure Investment Trusts give retail investors access to toll roads, power transmission lines, and gas pipelines — assets that used to be accessible only to institutional investors. They are SEBI-regulated, listed on NSE and BSE, and must distribute at least 90% of net distributable cash flows to unit-holders every quarter. Here is how they work, what the five listed InvITs look like, and how the tax works.

What Is an InvIT?

An Infrastructure Investment Trust is a trust that owns a portfolio of infrastructure assets and earns revenue from operating them — toll collections on expressways, transmission charges on power lines, tariff income on gas pipelines. SEBI mandates that InvITs distribute at least 90% of net distributable cash flow (NDCF) to unit-holders every quarter, making them income-generating instruments similar to REITs but for hard infrastructure rather than real estate. Unlike equity shares, InvIT distributions are not dividends — they are a mix of interest income, return of capital, and capital gains depending on the trust's books.

Five Listed InvITs in India (2026)

How to Buy InvIT Units on NSE/BSE

1. Open a demat account with any SEBI-registered broker (Zerodha, ICICI Direct, Groww, etc.)
2. Search for the InvIT name or NSE/BSE ticker in the equity segment — InvITs trade as regular securities
3. Minimum purchase is 1 unit (no lot-size requirement for secondary market transactions)
4. Place a limit order at the current market price during trading hours
5. Units settle T+1; distributions are credited directly to your registered bank account quarterly

How InvIT Distributions Are Taxed

InvIT distributions are not treated as dividends for tax purposes. Instead, each quarterly distribution is classified into three components in the InvIT's payout notice:

• Interest income component — taxed at your applicable income slab rate (same as FD interest)
• Return of capital component — not taxable when received; instead reduces your cost of acquisition (affects capital gains when you sell units)
• Dividend component — taxed at your slab rate under the new dividend taxation rules

Capital gains on InvIT unit sales: gains on units held for more than 24 months are long-term capital gains, taxed at 12.5% without indexation (Finance Act 2024 reduced the holding threshold from 36 to 24 months and removed indexation). Gains on units held for 24 months or less are short-term, taxed at your slab rate.

InvIT vs REIT vs Direct Infrastructure

REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) follow the same distribution and listing structure as InvITs but own commercial real estate instead of infrastructure. REITs in India — Embassy REIT, Mindspace REIT, Brookfield REIT — have historically shown lower yield volatility but higher price appreciation than InvITs, given real estate rental escalations. Direct infrastructure investment (buying an NHAI bond or NHPC share) gives different exposures. See our companion REITs India guide for a full comparison.