Office leasing up 15% in January-March to 18.3 mn sq ft across top 7 cities: Report

New Delhi, Demand for office space remained strong this quarter despite global uncertainties, as gross leasing of workspace rose 15 per cent to 18.3 million sq ft across seven major cities, according to Colliers India.

Real estate consultant Colliers India on Thursday released the data for office market for the January-March period of this calendar year.

Gross leasing of office space across seven cities -- Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune -- stood at 18.3 million sq ft during the current quarter as against 15.9 million sq ft a year ago.


"This continued momentum has been supported by strengthening occupier demand across sectors and expanding Global Capability Centres (GCCs) footprint, despite ongoing global uncertainties," the consultant said.

Bengaluru, the biggest office market, saw an 18 per cent growth in office leasing to 5.3 million sq ft during January-March from 4.5 million sq ft in the corresponding period of the preceding year.

In Hyderabad, the leasing doubled to 3.4 million sq ft from 1.7 million sq ft.

The gross leasing in Pune more than doubled to 2.5 million sq ft from 1.2 million sq ft.

Mumbai, too, saw 23 per cent rise in office demand to 2.7 million sq ft from 2.2 million sq ft.

The gross leasing of office space fell 30 per cent in Delhi-NCR to 2.3 million sq ft from 3.3 million sq ft.

Similarly, the demand in Chennai fell 31 per cent to 2 million sq ft from 2.9 million sq ft.

The gross leasing of workspace remained flat in Kolkata at 0.1 million sq ft during January-March quarter.

Gross absorption or leasing does not include lease renewals, pre-commitments and deals where only a letter of intent has been signed, the consultant said.