InvITs: the middle path between equity risk and debt stability

As an example, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) constructs multiple roads; one road would be an SPV for this purpose. The toll collections from the road would be routed to the InvIT that is holding multiple SPVs originated by NHAI. While there is no commitment or guarantee on the toll collections, there is visibility.

However, equity is more volatile. In equity, the dividend yield is nearer to 1%, as market prices appreciate significantly. The handsome returns you earn in equity over a long holding period, say 12-20%, are driven largely by price appreciation. In bonds or debt investments, it is the reverse. Most of the returns come from the coupon or interest. On this aspect, InvITs are similar to debt investments, though there is no committed coupon.

Returns from InvITs

In any investment, your return is the resale price or current market price over purchase price, plus the inflows in the interim. This principle is same for InvITs, but it is more nuanced. In an InvIT, money flows from the multiple SPVs or Holdco to the umbrella entity. This flow of money can be interest, dividend, repayment of capital and a bit of treasury income.

At the end of the financial year, the market price of the InvIT rose to ₹103. Over the course of the financial year, the InvIT distributed ₹10 under various heads. Hence, the earnings for the investor for the year are ₹3 (price appreciation) plus ₹10 (distribution).

Joydeep Sen

Joydeep worked in the financial services industry for 25 years, till 2016. Of this, the last 13 years were with BNP Paribas in the wealth management department as Senior Vice President - Advisory Desk. Prior to BNP, he worked with various companies in the private sector. Since 2017, Joydeep is on his own, pursuing his passion.Joydeep writes columns regularly in various financial publications. Since January 2017 till date, he has published 614 articles (as of March 2026) in publications like Mint, Moneycontrol, ET Wealth / ET Markets, Outlook Money, Financial Express, The Hindu, etc. He appears on the CNBC Mutual Fund show once every few months.He has authored four books: (1) “Fixed Income Markets in India: Investment Opportunities for You”, (2) “Mutual Funds in India: Vehicle for Fixed Income Investments” (which has been recommended as a reference book by Mumbai University for MMS course), (3) “Open Your Eyes to Management Lessons Around Us”, and (4) (a) “Wealth Management: a Guidance for Affluent and Middle Income Classes” and a variant as per university syllabus (4) (b) “Wealth Management - Concepts and Practice”, used as a textbook in certain undergrad courses.He is a visiting faculty with NISM and business schools like IMT (Ghaziabad) and SP Jain Global (Mumbai). He has done training sessions for CRISIL, FPSB, CIEL, mutual funds, banks (multiple sessions for RMs of a leading MNC bank on wealth induction) and NBFCs. He does content work for NISM. Joydeep is a Certified Financial Planner. He did his MBA from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, in 1991.He has been listed among the “100 Most Influential BFSI Leaders” by BFSI Congress in February 2019 and February 2023, “50 Most Influential Financial Services Marketing Professional” at the Financial Services Marketing Summit in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2025, and “Most Admired BFSI Professionals” in 2024 and 2025.