Office leasing picks up as corporates move past AI, geopolitical uncertainty

New Delhi: Large office leasing deals across India’s top cities are back on track, with corporates that had held back amid geopolitical uncertainty and growing questions around AI-led workforce disruption now finalising deals as they remain confident about long-term growth, industry executives said.

Office developers said they are seeing early signs of international companies returning to the market, making enquiries and beginning to take decisions. They expect the current and next quarters to see a pick-up in deal closures.

“The demand fundamentals of the Indian office market have held up through the year,” said AnshumanMagazine, chairman and CEO-India, Middle East, South East Asia and Africa at CBRE. “What we saw was not a slowdown but a brief period of deferred decision making, with occupiers taking time to calibrate their portfolios while they weighed geopolitical headwinds and cost implications. As the macroeconomic picture has become clearer, that interest has quickly converted into actual space take-up.”


Global capability centres (GCCs) and technology firms executing long-term expansion plans in the country continue to anchor leasing momentum.

Carbon-neutral workspace provider CG Offices said several sizeable deals are being closed in the current quarter.

“With some moderation visible in residential activity, we are increasingly seeing enquiries for office development land and joint-development (JD) opportunities picking up,” said Vibhor Jain, founder and CEO of CG Offices. “When residential activity starts to slow, capital and developers often begin looking more closely at commercial opportunities, particularly office-led development.”

The longer-term demand for office space, combined with improving transaction activity, is also making commercial real estate more attractive to developers and investors.

“The next few quarters could therefore be quite interesting, not just from a leasing perspective, but also from a land, development and investment standpoint,” Jain said.

Demand for large-format, quality office space remains strong, particularly from occupiers looking to consolidate, expand and prepare for their next phase of growth.

In a recent investor call, Sriram Khattar, vice chairman and managing director-rental business at DLF Limited, said corporates have started taking decisions.

“Last two quarters, there has been a fair amount of debate on the impact of AI on the hiring of the various multinationals and GCCs, and how it is impacting. From February onwards, the war between Iran and US and the ever-changing dynamics there. These two did slow down the decision-making of the global companies because as you investors and analysts will appreciate, no one likes uncertainty. Last about four-five weeks, I personally see the green shoots of the international companies coming back and making enquiries and starting to take decisions,” Khattar said.

Leasing activity in India’s office market declined 14.5% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The country’s top eight cities recorded absorption of 11.6 million sq ft, as businesses remained cautious amid the evolving global economic environment.

In the first half of the year, net absorption across these cities stood at 23 million sq ft, down 19.8% year-on-year.

GCCs remained the principal growth engine of India’s office market, leasing about 16.5 million sq ft in H1 2026. They accounted for 38% of total leasing activity, marking a 38% year-on-year increase.