India, Feb. 28 -- Owning property in India meant becoming a landlord. That implied tenant screening, rent collection, broker negotiations, maintenance disputes, tax filings and regulatory compliance. The investment and the operations were inseparable. That equation may no longer hold true.

As investor participation in real estate becomes more digital, economic ownership of real estate is increasingly being separated from day-to-day operational responsibility. The shift mirrors what happened earlier in equities, where retail investors moved from direct stock picking to professionally managed mutual funds and ETFs.

In property markets, the separation is being driven by institutionalisation, regulatory evolution and technology-led platform...