30% of the corporate occupiers planning to grow their office portfolio

Almost 30% of the corporate occupiers in the Indian office market are planning to grow their office portfolio by more than 30%. That share has increased from 18% a year ago, according to a CBRE survey.

Nearly half of the surveyed occupiers plan to expand their real estate footprint by coupling business growth with expansion and consolidation strategies. Approximately a quarter of occupiers intend to renew their existing leases over the next two years.

"This reflects a structural rather than cyclical shift in how corporates are approaching their India real estate strategy. Coming at a time when the office sector’s stock has crossed the 1-billion-square-feet milestone, this signals sustained confidence in India as a long-term destination for corporate growth,” said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO - India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE.


As per the survey, occupiers are entering a phase of conviction-led growth, with three in every four of them intending to expand their portfolio here over the next two years.

The survey, conducted between April and June 2026, asked the occupiers to share their views about their two-year portfolio expectations, ranging from ‘a decline’ to ‘a significantly larger growth of over 30%’. The most aggressive of those bands saw the sharpest movement, indicating that the firms driving this are optimistic about their expansion in the India market.

“About 63% of the large-sized occupiers plan to expand or consolidate in the next two years and we are likely to see this translate into active requirements across both established and emerging micro-markets,” said Ram Chandnani, Managing Director, Leasing Services, India, CBRE.

The Indian office market has shown a strong performance in the last few years with the gross leasing hitting a record 24.6 mn. sq. ft. in Q2 2026 - up 18% sequentially and 14% year-on-year. This pushed the gross H1 2026 absorption to 45.5 mn. sq. ft., the best half-year on record and roughly 10% ahead of H1 2025.

GCCs remain the single biggest engine of this growth, accounting for 42% of the quarterly take-up at a record 10.3 million sq. ft., while flex operators (27% share) and Fortune 500 occupiers (6.8 msf, 28% share) point to demand that's both broad-based and increasingly institutional grade in quality.

“The strong intent to expand and consolidate portfolios reflects growing confidence among enterprises and GCCs in India as a strategic business destination. In Bengaluru, this is translating into demand for high-quality, future-ready office environments that offer not just efficient infrastructure, but also flexibility, technology integration and access to a strong talent ecosystem,” said Hardeep Dayal, President – Commercial - BCIT.

Large occupiers are increasingly prioritising high-quality, well-located and future-ready office environments.

“That is shaping the kind of assets we want to own and build. In Koramangala, we are building two Grade-A office projects in one of Bengaluru's most established commercial locations: around 9 lakh sq. ft. within an LEED-Platinum Certified development, and a further 5 lakh sq. ft. of Grade A commercial project is being planned for development near Koramangala BDA Complex,” said Sudarshan Lodha, CEO and Co-Founder of Strata.

Many developers are focusing on supplying Grade-A office spaces to meet international standards in order to attract international companies/ MNCs, primarily large space occupiers, which will create a strong Grade-A supply in the market to meet those demands The focus is on creating high-quality commercial environments that can meet the evolving requirements of large occupiers.