Both are Indian InvITs — why is NHIT's 6.78% a better buy than IndiGrid's 9.4%?

Because 27% of the 9.4% is your own principal coming back (with NAV falling and reserves tapped to top up a quarter), while the 6.78% is almost entirely interest (with NAV rising). The first step in any yield comparison is decomposition: all-interest 6.78 and principal-laced 9.4 differ by only about 0.05 points of true income (6.83 vs 6.78), with entirely different risk shapes. The reading rule for all three of this site's InvITs is one sentence: composition over headline.

Why does Indus's 10.76% only rate a contrast mention?

Its true income is only about 6.44% (40% return of capital, over half in some quarters), on weaker second-tier liquidity than NHIT. The same income at worse quality in a thinner book — its role on this site is pedagogical: letting readers watch a headline yield being propped up by principal. IRB's dilution teaches the mirror lesson: after a unit expansion, per-unit distributions are not comparable across years, and the line marketing loves to quote is precisely the one that has stopped working.

Will high-speed rail or free national roads obsolete toll roads?

India's national-highway network is still expanding, and NHIT's portfolio sits on core national corridors; the long-run competitor to traffic is the growth rate, not a single alternative route. The real term risk is concession expiry (assets handed back) and re-acquisition pricing — which is why this entry's risk column is written about concession structure, not traffic narratives.

Opportunity rank #67 (cash-flow board) · India

India's highways InvIT (NHIT): distributions that are almost all interest, with zero return of capital — the cleanest structure in the family

Our take: Do

6.78% NHIT highways InvIT distribution yield (filing basis, zero return of capital) · Verified · Data as of: 2026-09-30

Composite-board score: 7.0 · Where it is strong: Net cash flow, Stability & rule of law · methodology

Data updated: 2026-11-08

This site's Indian InvIT family now has three members, and NHIT's structure is the cleanest: distributions of Rs11.53 per unit over the last four quarters (a 6.78% yield on the filing compilation) are composed almost entirely of SPV interest — the Q1 FY26 quarter's Rs2.984 was Rs2.915 interest plus Rs0.069 other income, with return of capital at zero (no filing to date has shown an ROC component). NAV is rising: post-distribution Rs133.88 (Mar 2025, EY valuation) to fair NAV Rs160.72 (Sep 2026); the portfolio runs 28 toll-road projects over 2,653 km, rated CARE AAA, with DSCR of 2.05x and net debt/EV of 43%. Non-resident withholding on the interest component is just 5% (peer-InvIT official-letter basis), giving about 6.4% in hand (this site's derivation). The contrast group prints on the same page (not separately ranked): second-tier highway InvITs differ wildly in quality — Indus's headline 10.76% is 40% return of capital (over half in some quarters), and IRB InvIT Fund's FY25 Rs8.00 carried 25% ROC before a large 2026 unit expansion diluted per-unit distributions. Under one 'highways InvIT' label, 6.78% all-interest and 10.76% forty-percent-principal are two different species — this site rates NHIT a 'do' and prints the contrast on the same page so readers buy by composition, not by label. The price sits about 5.8% above fair NAV: clean is not cheap, and staging entries is the discipline.

In short: four lines first

What it costs to get in

Listed units, from about Rs170 per unit (demat account)

Roughly what it earns

6.78%（NHIT highways InvIT distribution yield (filing basis, zero return of capital)）

How much work for you

Very hands-off (listed route)

The biggest catch

The numbers that matter

NHIT highways InvIT distribution yield (filing basis, zero return of capital)

6.78%

Verified As of: 2026-09-30 Source: Alloqo: India InvIT distribution and NAV filing compilations (NHIT/IndiGrid/Indus)

Why we think it makes money

Compositional purity is an InvIT's first principle: distributions flow from SPVs as interest, with no debt-repayment reflux inside — holders do not have to unpack every quarter the way IndiGrid (entry No. 68) demands.

NAV moves the same way as distributions: 133.88 to 160.72 shows an asset side appreciating rather than being hollowed out by payouts — the sharpest contrast on this site's India pages, against IndiGrid's falling NAV.

Concession quality is checkable: 2,653 km, 28 projects, AAA, DSCR 2.05x — the toll cash flows' coverage multiples are in the filings, not in a roadshow deck.

How to actually get in

Listed route: buy NHIT units through a broker/demat account with India access (NSE/BSE listed, from 1 unit, unit price about Rs170); FEMA's non-debt-instrument rules allow foreign persons (FPI/NRI/PROI) to invest in SEBI-registered InvIT units. Non-resident withholding applies by component (the 5% interest tier requires a tax-residency declaration; 10% without).

What it costs, what it earns

Entry amount: Listed units, from about Rs170 per unit (demat account)
How much work for you: Very hands-off (listed route)

Costs & taxes, item by item:

A premium of about 5.8% over fair NAV: you are buying clean and paying a premium for it — when the premium widens, stage or wait.
Rupee exposure; and the expiry-and-handback nature of concession assets (toll concessions revert at term, so NAV embeds amortisation logic; long holds must watch the acquisition pipeline).

Basis: this site uses full-cost net returns only — income minus vacancy, management, maintenance, taxes and insurance, then financing interest, with entry costs in the denominator. See the methodology。

Identity & tax

Status (residency / citizenship)

无投资居留通道（FPI 组合投资）

This asset does not count toward the channel No status channel

Threshold: —

买 InvIT 单位是组合投资（FPI 通道），不产生任何印度居留或签证资格；印度没有面向被动房地产投资者的投资移民通道。直接持有印度仓储资产对外资个人亦不现实（机构级门票与外资规则）。

Source: 印度证券交易委员会（SEBI）InvIT 规则；FPI 框架

Tax (investor level)

InvIT 分派按构成部分分别计税：利息、股息、租金与资本返还的税性各不相同——这正是不能只看现金分派率的税务面理由。

分派构成逐年由信托披露：利息部分、股息部分、租金部分与资本返还（摊还出资）的预提与税率各不相同，非居民按各部分适用口径预提。
资本返还部分不是收益，是本金的退回——把它计入「收益率」会在税务与经济两个层面同时算错。
单位买卖的资本利得按印度规则纳税（持有期与居民身份决定口径）。

Double-tax treaties: 印度与新加坡有全面税收协定；InvIT 分派各构成部分的协定待遇逐项适用，以信托年度税务文件为准。

Source: NDR InvIT 年度分派税务文件；印度所得税法 InvIT 条款

This section is general information only — not immigration or tax advice. Program rules change frequently; before acting, rely on the official texts and a licensed adviser.

Risks: what could go wrong

Toll and traffic cyclicality: revenue rides traffic volumes and toll-rate revisions (inflation-linked, varying by concession) — in a downturn, volumes and rates are squeezed together; DSCR of 2.05x is today's cushion, not a permanent one. If these happen, our take changes: If DSCR falls below 1.5x (filing basis), this entry's stability judgment is downgraded.

The concession clock: assets revert at term, so the InvIT must keep acquiring new concessions to defend NAV — acquisition pricing and pipeline are the core long-hold variables, and each acquisition announcement must be read. If these happen, our take changes: None (tracking discipline).

Composition drift within the family: NHIT's zero-ROC record is a record to date, not a charter promise — scan each quarter's composition line; the appearance of a capital-repayment component triggers an IndiGrid-style re-read. If these happen, our take changes: If any quarter's distribution shows a return-of-capital component (filing basis), this entry's purity conclusion is revised.

What we have not verified yet

The following key figures have not yet been verified; the reason is noted for each item.

The ~6.4% in-hand figure is this site's derivation at the 5% interest tier: personal tax status and declaration documents govern actual withholding (10% tier without).
The premium to NAV is a research-date measurement: recompute from the latest filed NAV and same-day price before citing.

FAQ

Both are Indian InvITs — why is NHIT's 6.78% a better buy than IndiGrid's 9.4%?: Because 27% of the 9.4% is your own principal coming back (with NAV falling and reserves tapped to top up a quarter), while the 6.78% is almost entirely interest (with NAV rising). The first step in any yield comparison is decomposition: all-interest 6.78 and principal-laced 9.4 differ by only about 0.05 points of true income (6.83 vs 6.78), with entirely different risk shapes. The reading rule for all three of this site's InvITs is one sentence: composition over headline.
Why does Indus's 10.76% only rate a contrast mention?: Its true income is only about 6.44% (40% return of capital, over half in some quarters), on weaker second-tier liquidity than NHIT. The same income at worse quality in a thinner book — its role on this site is pedagogical: letting readers watch a headline yield being propped up by principal. IRB's dilution teaches the mirror lesson: after a unit expansion, per-unit distributions are not comparable across years, and the line marketing loves to quote is precisely the one that has stopped working.
Will high-speed rail or free national roads obsolete toll roads?: India's national-highway network is still expanding, and NHIT's portfolio sits on core national corridors; the long-run competitor to traffic is the growth rate, not a single alternative route. The real term risk is concession expiry (assets handed back) and re-acquisition pricing — which is why this entry's risk column is written about concession structure, not traffic narratives.

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Data dates are marked per metric; page updated 2026-11-08. This site publishes information and is not investment advice; the corrections channel is in the Disclaimer。