Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI has approved guidelines for the Real Estate Investment Trusts, REITs and Infra Investment Trusts, InvITs regulation 2014 to attract more retail investors in the capital markets.

This will provide framework for registration and regulations in the real estate and infrastructure sectors as announced by the Finance Minister in the Union Budget.

The norms were cleared by SEBI’s Board at a meeting in New Delhi on Sunday which was also addressed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The Sebi proposed that the underlying assets in REITs and InvITs cannot be less than Rs. 500 crore and the minimum initial offer size would be Rs. 250 crore.

Speaking to the reporters in New Delhi SEBI Chairman U.K. Sinha said that REIT and InviT shall invest in commercial real estate assets either directly or through special purpose vehicle, SPVs.

Sinha said that the Finance Minister discussed issues related to recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission, FSLRC.

The Sebi also cleared a proposal for one-time registration process for stock brokers and clearing entities that would allow them to operate across bourses.

The proposal replace the current practice of requiring separate registration certificate to trade in each stock exchange.

The new norms will help in channelising domestic investments into real estate and infrastructure sectors, and also help attract foreign capital for these fund starved segments of the economy.