India’s Office Market Booms with Record 40 Mn Sq Ft Absorption: JLL

 The country’s office market continues to grow, with net absorption during the 9-month period of January-September 2025, increasing Year-On-Year across all major Indian cities, except Mumbai and Kolkata.

The January-September 2025 net absorption figures were also the highest ever for Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai across the same period, highlighting the strong headcount growth being undertaken in these talent-rich cities.

On a cumulative basis, Bengaluru leads with a 26.5% share in January-September 2025 net absorption figures for the top seven cities, Delhi NCR follows closely with a 24.8% share over the same period.

“India’s office market continues to thrive, with gross leasing at 56.5 million sq. ft in the first nine months, tracking a 5.7% year-on-year growth and cementing the country’s position as the ‘Office to the World.’ With GCCs leading this charge, these exceptional figures reflect the unwavering conviction global corporates have that India offers genuine structural tailwinds to their business strategies. The country stands tall as occupiers pivot their post-uncertainty expansion plans, keeping India central to their growth strategies. With robust office occupancies already creating space constraints in the existing portfolios of large occupiers, there are clear signals of imminent portfolio expansion. Given our strong pipeline of deal activity and current performance trajectory, we remain confident that India’s leasing volumes will reach unprecedented levels of 80 million sq. ft or even higher this year,” said Radha Dhir, CEO and Country Head, India, JLL

Delhi NCR and Bengaluru maintained their leadership positions in the third quarter, each capturing nearly identical shares of 24.6% of total net absorption during Q3 (July-September).

Source: Real Estate Intelligence Service (REIS), JLL Research

Delhi NCR led in gross leasing activity for Q3 2025 (July-September 20205) with a strong 27.2% share, followed by Bengaluru with 17.8% and Hyderabad with 17.3%.

On an overall basis, Flex was the leading occupier segment with its share in Q3 leasing hitting the highest ever at 23.8%, followed by Tech at 22.8%.

“India’s office market continues to demonstrate unmatched growth momentum, with net absorption reaching an unprecedented ~40 million sq. ft in the first nine months of 2025 – the highest ever recorded for this period. Three transformational trends underscore this evolution: GCCs have achieved record performance with 20 million sq. ft (up 12.8% Y-o-Y on a 9-month comparison) and 38.5% market share of gross leasing, leveraging the country’s unmatched talent, innovation ecosystem and market potential as they evolve into critical delivery and R&D hubs for parent enterprises. Domestic occupiers maintain strong momentum at 42% share, led by indigenous flex operators, while tech firms – both domestic and global – have already hit 92% of their last year’s leasing figures in just nine months, driven by AI transformation strategies. While Q3 saw transaction timing impacts, the fundamentals point beyond recovery—we’re witnessing structural market evolution. India isn’t just absorbing global volatility; it’s becoming the backbone of next-generation corporate operations, with a record year-end finish well within reach,” said Dr Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head of Research and REIS, India, JLL.

For the nine months ending September 2025, IT/ITeS leads with a 28.0% share, followed by Flex with 19.0%. BFSI and Manufacturing shares continue to remain robust at 15-16% through the current year.

It is worth noting that India’s office market has bucked the global trends of workspace contraction. With the headcount and footprint growth-oriented demand resulting in strong net absorption in Q3, vacancy has declined to its lowest in 17 quarters, with tight, single-digit vacancies prevailing in core markets across all cities. On a Q-o-Q basis, vacancy declines have been observed across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi NCR. In fact, Bengaluru’s vacancy is now at a three-year low while it is at a historic low in Mumbai and Delhi NCR in the past fifteen years.

The confluence of strong net absorption and leasing momentum amidst global uncertainty heralds an exceptional market opportunity and growth runway for India

Demand from GCCs – both existing ones and new country entrants remains strong, making up ~50% of all active space requirements. At a sector level, the strong rebound in third-party tech activity is providing a strong fillip to India’s tech outsourcing sector with the pivot centered around AI and other cutting-edge technology offerings.

International banking and financial services players’ appetite for offshore operational centres, complemented by the manufacturing sector dynamism fostered through strategic policy initiatives also form a key element for the market’s future growth potential.

A strong deal pipeline offers support to surging leasing volumes and tight vacancy rates indicate a geography that features as the focal point of business expansion for global corporates. Domestic corporates continue to ride the wave of a marked resilience in local market fundamentals and global business businesses’ confidence in India to grow, a hallmark of a country defined not just by its costs but also its emergence as a strategic hub for market-changing innovation ideas driven by its deep talent pool.