{"id":215,"date":"2025-10-16T04:36:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T04:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/?p=215"},"modified":"2026-08-19T07:07:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T07:07:51","slug":"real-assets-the-utility-driven-backbone-of-indias-financial-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/podcast\/real-assets-the-utility-driven-backbone-of-indias-financial-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Assets: The Utility-Driven Backbone of India’s Financial Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Subahoo Chordia, CEO of EAAA Alternatives, joins Vivek Law on the Simple Hai!<\/em> podcast. Chordia, who has been instrumental in achieving “many firsts” in the alternative investment space, particularly in Real Assets such as REITs and InvITs, believes these investments are the backbone of India’s growth story. He explains how the financialisation of essential utility and infrastructure assets, which have already reached an impressive \u20b910 lakh crore in EV\/AUM, is making them accessible to a wider section of Indian investors.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the conversation, Chordia asserted that real assets are the backbone of India’s growth story. A real asset is simply something tangible\u2014an asset that can be seen, touched, and experienced while also generating a steady income. More importantly, these assets serve as essential utilities used by ordinary people, such as power grids, highways, and commercial buildings. They are assets without which everyday activities, including commuting to work or finding a place to live, would not be possible. Historically, Indians have primarily viewed residential real estate and gold as their preferred real assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democratisation Through Financialisation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Chordia compared the evolution of real assets to the transformation of the equity market. Just as ordinary investors gained access to pharmaceutical and IT companies through equities, they are now gaining access to infrastructure through financialisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This shift has been driven by REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) and InvITs (Infrastructure Investment Trusts).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launched in India in 2017, REITs and InvITs have already grown rapidly, reaching an EV\/AUM of \u20b910 lakh crore. These structures operate similarly to mutual funds, pooling capital from investors to acquire diversified assets. SEBI regulations require that 90% of the cash flow generated by these operating assets be distributed to investors. Returns are generated through two sources: regular income distributions, either quarterly or semi-annually, and appreciation in the value of the units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bridging the Global Investment Gap<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The concept of financialising real assets is not new globally. REITs were first listed in the United States in the 1960s, while financial investors began backing infrastructure projects in Canada as early as the 1930s. This means India adopted these investment products two to five decades later than some developed markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chordia pointed out that global pension funds, insurance companies, and asset managers have long been earning returns by investing in Indian assets for the benefit of their own citizens. His goal has been to ensure that Indian investors also have the opportunity to participate directly in India’s growth story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These investment products fill an important gap in the market by offering returns that are typically higher than low-risk bonds but lower than high-volatility equities, resulting in stable, consistent, and compounding returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public REITs and InvITs are highly accessible, with investments starting at approximately \u20b9100 per unit. Meanwhile, the minimum investment requirement for private InvITs was recently reduced from 2 lakh units to 25,000 units, making them more accessible to high-net-worth individuals (HNIs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advantages Over Physical Ownership<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Chordia, investing through REITs and InvITs offers several advantages over owning physical property. Investors avoid the concentration risk associated with purchasing a single property, which can cost anywhere between \u20b95 crore and \u20b910 crore in prime locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, investors no longer have to deal with the challenges of property maintenance and tenant management, as professional teams handle these responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another major benefit is liquidity. Unlike physical assets, where an entire property must often be sold to access capital, financial instruments allow investors to buy and sell units more flexibly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Three Cs of Long-Term Sustainability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Because real assets typically have life cycles ranging from 15 to 35 years, sustainability becomes a critical consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chordia highlighted three key factors that determine the long-term viability of an investment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Cash Flow:<\/strong> The predictability of the revenue stream.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Contract:<\/strong> The long-term visibility of the contract or concession agreement.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Counterparty:<\/strong> The financial strength and creditworthiness of the entity responsible for making payments, often a government body.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    He also emphasised that investments in climate-linked assets, such as renewable energy projects and green buildings, reduce overall risk. This is one reason sustainability-linked bonds are often priced more competitively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Driving India’s Service Economy and GCC Growth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    India’s economy is now 60\u201365% service-sector driven, following a development path similar to that of the United States after 1987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The country also benefits from producing the world’s second-largest number of STEM graduates annually and having the largest English-speaking STEM talent pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This talent has fuelled the rise of Global Capability Centres (GCCs), transforming India from a low-cost outsourcing destination into a hub for high-quality research and development. Today, GCC growth is concentrated in six major cities: Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, largely because of their established ecosystems and strong educational institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Subahoo Chordia’s PPPT Framework<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Reflecting on his journey from being a chartered accountant in Jaipur to becoming a finance expert, Chordia credited both luck and continuous learning for his success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    He follows an internal framework called PPPT<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Planning:<\/strong> Spending two to three years understanding the market before launching a business.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. People:<\/strong> Building a strong team, often by recruiting talent from global institutions such as Blackstone and Macquarie.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Processes:<\/strong> Establishing efficient systems and verification mechanisms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Technology:<\/strong> Prioritising digitisation through customised software, including tools that monitor highways and track the performance of solar plants in real time.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Chordia also acknowledged that finance is an inherently high-stress industry. In the real assets sector, he believes that stress can be managed through data-driven decision-making, automated dashboards, effective teamwork, and, most importantly, avoiding impulsive decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For him, real assets offer the stability and predictability that make them particularly suitable for long-term wealth creation and retirement planning, positioning them as an important asset class for India’s future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Subahoo Chordia, CEO of EAAA Alternatives, joins Vivek Law on the Simple Hai! podcast. Chordia, who has been instrumental in achieving “many firsts” in the alternative investment space, particularly in Real Assets such as REITs and InvITs, believes these investments are the backbone of India’s growth story. He explains how the financialisation of essential utility […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":217,"href":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions\/217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesimplehaishow.com\/thesimplehaishow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}