Dalal Street has been one of the worst performing stock markets in the Asian region with the Sensex declining nearly 9.7 % over the past one year.
Readers have been eagerly looking for stocks that have withstood the broad selling pressure over the past one year and that also offer regular dividend income.
To help our readers in these volatile times, we did a study of leading real estate investment trusts (REITs) and the relevance of their distribution and operational strategy.
The 90% Mandate: Why REITs Are Built for Cash Flow
REITs are companies that own / manage a property portfolio. It could include office complexes, buildings, and warehouses, among others. These properties generate regular income in the form of rent for a REIT.
REITs allow small investors an opportunity to participate in the property market without the hassles of managing a property portfolio by simply purchasing units of a REIT. This is akin to purchasing units in a mutual fund.
REITs are governed via the market regulator’s (Real Estate Investment Trust) regulations 2014. Under these provisions, REITs are required to distribute to unit holders not less than 90% of their net distributable cash flows or taxable income to shareholders in each financial year.
REITs typically declare a dividend at the end of each quarter when its results are declared to the stock exchanges / SEBI. The distribution per unit from a REIT has the following components – interest payment, dividend and balance in the form of repayment of debt.
REITs typically offer an annualised distributive yield of 4.8% to 6.4%. This makes them a very attractive investment for anyone who is looking to generate a regular income.
It is advisable to talk to your financial advisor / chartered accountant to fully understand the income earned for every unit owned of a REIT and its tax implications.
To help readers get greater insight on REITs, we studied the leading 5 REITs listed on the stock markets.
Here are the findings on the leading REITs.
Financial and operational metrics of REITs
| Distribution yield based on FY26 payout(in %) | Distribution for first quarter of FY27 per unit (in Rs) | Net asset value (NAV) | Occupancy level in first quarter of FY27 (in %) | |
| Knowledge Realty Trust | % 5.5% | Rs 1.695 | – | 93% |
| Embassy Office Parks REIT | 5.8% | Rs 6.31 | Rs 491.6 at end of FY26 | 90% |
| Bagmane Prime Office REIT | 5.5%* | Rs 1.5 | – | 98.7% |
| Mindspace Business Parks REIT | 4.8% | Rs 6.67 | Rs 527 as of May, 2026 | 92.1% |
| Brookfield India REIT | 6.4% | Rs 5.6 | Rs 386.6 at end of FY26 | 93% |
Source – REIT results and investor presentations
* Annualising the first quarter distribution per unit for FY27 for Bagmane Prime Office REIT
Knowledge Realty Trust: A 5.5% distribution Yield Backed by Blackstone
Knowledge Realty Trust, co-sponsored by Sattva Developers Private Limited and US-based Blackstone; its portfolio comprises 29 Grade-A office assets totaling 46.5 million square feet as of June 30, 2026, with 37.3 million square feet of completed area, 2.6 million square feet under construction area and 6.6 million square feet of future development area spread across 6 cities.
Its assets portfolio comprises 6 city-center offices and 23 integrated business parks/centers, at the end of the first quarter of FY27, and it has over 475 tenants comprising prominent MNCs and global capability centres (GCCs) as well as leading domestic corporates.
Knowledge Realty Trust listed on 18 August, 2025.
In late 2026, Knowledge Realty Trust had declared a distribution to unit holders of Rs 1.695 per unit – it comprises of Rs 0.922 per unit in the form of dividend, Rs 0.278 per unit in the form of interest, Rs 0.494 per unit in the form of repayment of debt and Rs. 0.001 per unit in the form of other income.
For the June 2026 quarter, the company had revenue from operations of Rs 1,243 crore and net profit of Rs 250.7 crore. It had occupancy of 93% in June 2026 as compared to 92% in March 2026.
The cumulative distribution of Knowledge Realty Trust for the nine months ended 31 March 2026 was Rs 4.74 per unit, and the REIT has highlighted a dividend accounted for 73%. On annualizing its distribution per unit for FY26 it would be Rs 6.32 per unit.
Knowledge Realty Trust was broadly flat at Rs 113.7 on Wednesday, and it had hit a 52-week high of Rs 129.49 on 16 December, 2025.
Annualising FY26 distribution per unit of Knowledge Realty Trust, it would give a distribution yield of nearly 5.5%.
Embassy Office Parks: Navigating an 11.4% Discount with Solar Upside
Embassy Office Parks REIT owns and operates a portfolio of over 52 million square feet of office space across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, the National Capital Region (NCR) and Chennai. The portfolio comprises 14 premium office ecosystems, and its tenants include 285 leading global and domestic companies.
In addition to office assets, the portfolio includes strategic amenities such as five operational business hotels, two hotels under development, and a 100 MW solar park that supplies renewable energy to tenants.
For the June 2026 quarter, Embassy Office Parks REIT had declared a distribution of Rs.6.31 per unit – comprising Rs 0.37 per unit in the form of interest payment, Rs 0.80 per unit in the form of dividend and the balance Rs 5.14 per unit in the form of repayment of debt.
Its revenue from operations grew 17.1% y-o-y to Rs 1,240.8 crore and net profit grew 25.8% y-o-y to Rs 195.2 crore. It had an occupancy of 90% as compared to 88% a year earlier.
For FY26, Embassy Office Parks REIT had declared a distribution of Rs 25.28 per unit, and dividend accounted for 24%.
Embassy Office Parks was broadly flat at Rs 435.4 on Wednesday, and it had reached a 52-week high of Rs 461.99 on 11 February, 2026. It has a NAV of Rs 491.6 at the end of FY26.
It offers a distribution yield of nearly 5.8%, based on FY26 distribution.
Bagmane Prime Office: The Pure-Play Bengaluru Giant Yielding 5%
Bagmane Prime Office REIT, is a pure-play Bengaluru portfolio comprising 19.6 million sq feet of commercial office space, including 16.6 million sq feet completed and operational, 1 million sq feet under construction and 2 million sq feet of future development.
It was listed on 14 May, 2026.
For the June 2026 quarter, Bagmane Prime Office REIT had declared a distribution of Rs 1.50 per unit, which comprises Rs 0.1252 per unit in the form of interest, and Rs. 1.3748 per unit in the form of dividend.
It had revenue from operations of Rs 437 crore and net profit of Rs 58.5 crore. It has a committed occupancy of 98.7% across 16.6 million sq feet of completed portfolio as compared to 98.8% at December 2025.
Bagmane Prime Office REIT gained 1.9% to Rs 108.3 on Wednesday, and its 52-week high was Rs 112 on 28 September, 2026.
Annualising the first quarter distribution for FY27, Bagmane Prime Office REIT offers a distribution yield of nearly 5.5%.
Mindspace Business Parks: 27% Revenue Growth Drives a 4.8% Payout
Mindspace Business Park REIT, sponsored by K Raheja Corp group, and features Grade-A offices with total leasable area of 46.2 million sq feet comprising of 36 million sq feet of completed area, 6.6 million sq feet of area under construction and 3.5 million sq feet of future development across namely Mumbai Region, Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai.
At the end of first quarter of FY27, Mindspace Business Park REIT had declared a distribution of Rs 6.67 per unit, comprising a dividend of Rs 3.34 and repayment of capital of Rs 3.33.
Its revenue from operations grew 27.8% y-o-y to Rs 946.4 crore and net profit grew 63.3% y-o-y to Rs 271.8 crore. It had a committed occupancy of 92.1% as compared to 93.7% a year earlier.
Mindspace Business Park REIT has a NAV of Rs 527 per unit as of May, 2026. Mindspace Business Park REIT gained 1% to Rs 501 on Wednesday, and it had a 52-week high of Rs 525.5 that was reached on 22 July, 2026.
For FY26, it had a distribution of Rs 24.09 per unit with dividend of Rs 12.68 per unit and repayment of capital of Rs 11.16.
Mindspace Business Park REIT offers a distribution yield of nearly 4.8%, based on FY26 payout.
Brookfield India: Pan-India Scale Trading at a 13% Markdown
Brookfield India REIT portfolio consists of pan India officesoffice and 37.2 million sq feet of total leasable area, comprising 32.6 million sq feet of operating area, 0.6 million sq feet of under construction area and 4 million sq feet of future development potential.
In August, it had announced a distribution of Rs 5.60 per unit – comprising Rs 1.65 in the form of interest payment on shareholder loan, CCDs and NCDs, Rs 2.67 in the form of repayment of SPV debt and NCD, Rs 0.93 in the form of dividend and the balance Rs 0.35 in the form of interest on fixed deposit and gain on investment in mutual funds.
Its revenue from operations grew 51.6% y-o-y to Rs 973.8 crore and its net profit grew 67.4 % y-o-y to Rs 221.3 crore. It had committed occupancy at 93%, a growth of 4% y-o-y.
For FY26, it had declared a distribution of Rs 21.4 per unit with the dividend amounting to Rs 3.28.
Brookfield India Real Estate Trust REIT ended 0.7% higher at Rs 336.4 on Wednesday, and it had a 52-week high of Rs 376.5 on 27 February, 2026.
It had a NAV of Rs 386.6 per unit at the end of FY26. It had a distribution yield of nearly 6.4%, based on FY26 distribution per unit.
REITs offer an annualised distribution yield of 4.8% to 6.4%%, and provide investors with regular income during these volatile times on Dalal Street. Readers could add REITs to their watch list of stocks for 2026, and see if their performance matches expectations, going forward.
Disclaimer
Amriteshwar Mathur is a financial journalist with over 20 years of experience.
The writer and his family have no shareholding in any of the stocks mentioned in the article.
The website managers, its employee(s), and contributors/writers/authors of articles have or may have an outstanding buy or sell position or holding in the securities, options on securities or other related investments of issuers and/or companies discussed therein. The content of the articles and the interpretation of data are solely the personal views of the contributors/ writers/authors. Investors must make their own investment decisions based on their specific objectives, resources and only after consulting such independent advisors as may be necessary.