Office leasing activity reaches highest level
Mumbai: Office leasing activity in India rose to an all-time high of 19.46 million square feet (sq ft), with domestic occupiers taking up a record 8.82 million sq ft. Global occupiers continued to be the mainstay of leasing activity, yet again, driven primarily by the GCC, according to a report by global real estate firm JLL.
On a year-on-year basis, gross leasing for the top seven cities was up 28.4 per cent at the all-India level and higher for all cities except Chennai, the report said. Bengaluru led in terms of leasing activity for the fourth consecutive quarter with a share of 21.9 per cent, followed by Delhi-NCR with 21.6 per cent.
Leasing by domestic occupiers was higher year-on-year in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune. Flex remained the dominant segment by domestic occupiers in Bengaluru and Pune, accounting for 70 per cent and 61.8 per cent share of leasing activity by domestic occupiers, respectively. BFSI was the biggest contributor in Mumbai, while tech was the biggest contributor in Hyderabad, the report said.
“The Indian office market has demonstrated remarkable resilience and growth in the first quarter of 2025, led by the strongest performance ever by domestic occupiers, which was driven by flex and third-party tech firms,” said Samantak Das, chief economist, India, JLL. The strong performance of BFSI as well as the above-mentioned ones has pushed net absorption to 12.78 million sq ft in the first quarter, a growth of 54 per cent year-on-year and further highlights expansion-driven demand in India’s office market, Das said.
The dominance of global occupiers, particularly the GCC set-up, which comprises 64.1 per cent of international leasing, reflects India’s growing appeal as a strategic location for multinational operations. “The strength of the market is evidenced by the significant decline in vacancy rates, which have fallen to a four-year low of 15.7 per cent, with single-digit vacancies in prime locations. Tight vacancy levels across key markets coupled with stable demand indicate a bullish outlook for India’s commercial real estate sector,” said Rahul Arora, Senior Managing Director, JLL.
