India’s office market shows resilience amid global headwinds, snaps 6-quarter declining trend

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

India’s top seven property markets broke the six-quarter declining trend by making a recovery in the quarter ended June supported by demand for global capability centers across Industries. While occupiers remain slightly bearish on expansion activity, India continues to see growth from its domestic corporations and global occupiers moving ahead with their expansion plans in a steady manner. The gross leasing activity in the top seven cities of India reached 12.7 million sq ft during the quarter, demonstrating a stable market sentiment in comparison to the previous quarter, showed data from JLL India.

Additionally, despite the global headwinds, the gross leasing activity in the first half of 2023 grew 2.5% from a year ago. The technology sector's share of leasing activity, at 23.1%, continued to lead in terms of overall share of the quarterly leasing activity, followed by flex with 17.7%. The manufacturing sector has begun to witness the positive effects of favorable policies of the government and India's engineering talent, resulting in its share reaching an eight-quarter high.

“The first two quarters of 2023 have witnessed the highest leasing activity compared to the same periods over the past four years. Contrary to predictions, the so-called headwinds effect was not as pronounced, and India has remained a prominent player in the global office market. India boasts the world's leading GCC ecosystem, with approximately 27-30% of India's Grade A stock occupied by GCCs,” said Rahul Arora, Head — Office Leasing Advisory, India, JLL.