The Reserve Bank of India has issued Amendment Directions, 2026 on Tuesday to alter valuation norms for units of Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvIT) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) held by all-India financial institutions. According to RBI, the revised framework updates Chapter VI of the Reserve Bank of India (All India Financial Institutions Classification, Valuation, and Operation of Investment Portfolio) Directions, 2025, which originally came out on November 28, 2025. The banking regulator stated that it introduced the changes to eliminate ambiguity and set standardized procedures across institutions. The formal title of the revised rules is the Reserve Bank of India (All India Financial Institutions - Classification, Valuation, and Operation of Investment Portfolio) Amendment Directions, 2026, coming into effect immediately from the date of issue.
The Supervisory Data Quality Index (sDQI) score of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) improved to 93.3 in June 2026 compared with 90.7 in March 2026, according to the Reserve Bank of India. This represents a significant enhancement in data quality across the banking sector, with all categories maintaining positions in the 'good' band. The sDQI measures data quality in terms of accuracy, timeliness, completeness and consistency in the submission of returns. The improvement was led by a sharp rise in the accuracy of data reported by banks, with the accuracy score increasing to 96.3 in June from 86.8 in March, while completeness improved to 96.9 from 96.4. Timeliness also edged up to 92.8 from 92.1, though consistency marginally decreased to 87.3 compared with 87.4 in March.
Small finance banks emerged as the top performers with a sDQI score of 93.8 in June 2026, substantially higher than their 90.4 score in March 2026. Public sector banks and foreign banks both achieved 93.7 scores, representing improvements from their respective March scores of 90.7 for PSBs and 91.4 for foreign banks. Private sector banks also reported an improvement, reaching 92.2 in June 2026 compared with 89.3 in March 2026. In June, only one entity scored below 80, indicating that the vast majority of banks maintained acceptable to good quality standards.
Under the amended guidelines, two new clauses—Paragraph 58A and Paragraph 58B—stand inserted into the principal directions to govern instruments issued by InvITs and REITs respectively. For unquoted units, the circular mandates valuation at net asset value (NAV), while stipulating strict treatment if disclosure rules are not met. As per the RBI notification, "Units: The valuation shall be done at the NAV as disclosed by the InvIT" for unquoted InvIT units, with identical terms applied to REIT units. "Where an InvIT fails to compute and disclose the NAV in the manner and frequency specified under SEBI (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014, the value of its units shall be treated as Re 1 for the purpose of these Directions". The same treatment applies to REIT units classified as infrequently traded in terms of SEBI regulations, ensuring uniform valuation practices across all financial institutions.
Under the amended directions, quoted InvIT and REIT units will be valued using the existing methodology. According to the RBI, banks determine fair value based on prices declared by Financial Benchmarks India (FBIL), while securities for which FBIL prices are unavailable are valued using quoted prices from recognised stock exchanges, reporting platforms or trading platforms authorised by the RBI or Sebi. Valuation can also be determined by prices declared by the Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India. For other unquoted instruments issued by InvITs and REITs, banks will continue to follow the valuation methodology prescribed for those instruments under the RBI's investment portfolio directions.
