Gross office leasing across seven top cities in India hit a record high in the January-March quarter to touch 19.46 million square feet, recording a year-on-year growth of 28.4 per cent, real estate consultancy JLL said.
On a nominal base, Calcutta reported a 431.5 per cent jump in gross leasing, which refers to all leasing transactions, in the last quarter, even as its share in the national pie continued to be the smallest. With 0.41 million square feet (410,000 sq ft) of gross leasing, the city’s share stood at 2.1 per cent, which is almost one-fifth of its nearest competitor Chennai.
JLL’s chief economist, head of research and REIS, Samantak Das said the early trend indicated that India’s office market is poised for another record-breaking year.
“The Indian office market has demonstrated remarkable resilience and growth in Q1 CY 2025, underpinned by the strongest-ever performance by domestic occupiers, which was driven by flex and third-party tech firms. A strong performance by BFSI along with the aforementioned ones has propelled net absorption to 12.78 million sq ft in Q1, up 54.0 per cent year-on-year and further highlighting the expansion-driven demand in the India office market,” Das said in a note.
JLL counts net absorption as new floor space occupied less floor space vacated. While Bengaluru continued to dominate the cities reported on by JLL, Delhi NCR were a close second, both reporting more than 4 million sq ft gross leasing, with more than 21 per cent of share by each of them among the cities covered.
With about 3 million sq ft gross leasing, Hyderabad and Pune were also favourites among occupiers. Each of the cities accounted for a 15 per cent share.
While JLL predicted a sustained runway for growth as India continues to see strong demand from global (GCC or global capabilities centres) and domestic occupiers, a temporary impact from tariff related uncertainties are not being ruled out.
“A short-term sluggishness in market activity may be seen as firms evaluate the impact of tariffs on the global economy landscape — both implied as well as explicit. The uncertainty and the emerging business strategies may also act as a tailwind to more offshoring opportunities for India from global firms,” JLL said.
