Amid a global trend of workspace contraction, India’s office market has moved in the opposite direction, tightening further in the September quarter as occupiers expanded headcount and footprint across major cities. The rise in occupier activity comes alongside record net absorption and leasing momentum, signalling a broad-based expansion cycle for India’s office sector.
Vacancy levels dropped to a 17-quarter low of 15.7% as against 16.9% a year ago and 16.1% in the previous quarter, with core markets such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Delhi-NCR witnessing both on-year and sequentially declines, showed JLL India data.
With this, Bengaluru’s vacancy is now at a three-year low, while Mumbai and Delhi-NCR are at their lowest in fifteen years. The period also marked the highest-ever cumulative net absorption for Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, and Chennai during January-September.
“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,” said Radha Dhir, CEO and Country Head, India, JLL.
Given the strong pipeline of deal activity and current performance trajectory, she remains confident that India’s leasing volumes will reach unprecedented levels of 80 million sq ft or even higher this year.
Net absorption across the top seven cities touched nearly 40 million sq ft in the first nine months of 2025, up 24.8% year-on-year. The July-September quarter recorded 15.76 million sq ft of net absorption, a 40% rise from the previous quarter.
“While Q3 saw transaction timing impacts, the fundamentals point beyond recovery, we are 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 Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head of Research and REIS, India, JLL.
The period also marked the highest-ever cumulative net absorption for Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai during January-September. Bengaluru led activity with a 26.5% share, followed by Delhi NCR at 24.8% and Hyderabad at 13.7%.
Demand from global capability centres, including new entrants, continues to be strong and now accounts for about half of all active space requirements. The revival in third-party tech activity, driven by Artificial Intelligence and new technology initiatives, is further boosting India’s tech outsourcing market.
Information technology and IT-enabled services (IT/ITeS) continued to dominate with a 28% share, followed by Flex at 19%, while BFSI and manufacturing maintained 15-16%. GCCs now make up about half of all active space requirements, reinforcing India’s position as a central hub in global corporate expansion plans.
Delhi NCR and Bengaluru together accounted for nearly half of the total net absorption during the September quarter at 24.6% each. Pune posted the sharpest quarterly rise of 148%, followed by Mumbai at 67.5%. On a year-on-year basis, Delhi NCR grew 49.9%, Bengaluru 31.1%, and Chennai 37.7%.
A steady pipeline of deals is supporting high leasing activity, while low vacancy levels show India’s growing importance in global expansion plans. Domestic companies are also benefiting from strong local fundamentals and rising global confidence in India’s talent-driven, innovation-focused growth.
Gross leasing activity during the September quarter was the highest ever recorded for this period, led by strong demand from occupiers in Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. The quarter also saw flexible workspace operators emerge as the largest occupier group, followed by technology companies that continued to expand their operational footprint across major office markets.
Vacancy levels dropped to a 17-quarter low of 15.7% as against 16.9% a year ago and 16.1% in the previous quarter, with core markets such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Delhi-NCR witnessing both on-year and sequentially declines, showed JLL India data.
With this, Bengaluru’s vacancy is now at a three-year low, while Mumbai and Delhi-NCR are at their lowest in fifteen years. The period also marked the highest-ever cumulative net absorption for Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, and Chennai during January-September.
“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,” said Radha Dhir, CEO and Country Head, India, JLL.
Given the strong pipeline of deal activity and current performance trajectory, she remains confident that India’s leasing volumes will reach unprecedented levels of 80 million sq ft or even higher this year.
Net absorption across the top seven cities touched nearly 40 million sq ft in the first nine months of 2025, up 24.8% year-on-year. The July-September quarter recorded 15.76 million sq ft of net absorption, a 40% rise from the previous quarter.
“While Q3 saw transaction timing impacts, the fundamentals point beyond recovery, we are 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 Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head of Research and REIS, India, JLL.
The period also marked the highest-ever cumulative net absorption for Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai during January-September. Bengaluru led activity with a 26.5% share, followed by Delhi NCR at 24.8% and Hyderabad at 13.7%.
Demand from global capability centres, including new entrants, continues to be strong and now accounts for about half of all active space requirements. The revival in third-party tech activity, driven by Artificial Intelligence and new technology initiatives, is further boosting India’s tech outsourcing market.
Information technology and IT-enabled services (IT/ITeS) continued to dominate with a 28% share, followed by Flex at 19%, while BFSI and manufacturing maintained 15-16%. GCCs now make up about half of all active space requirements, reinforcing India’s position as a central hub in global corporate expansion plans.
Delhi NCR and Bengaluru together accounted for nearly half of the total net absorption during the September quarter at 24.6% each. Pune posted the sharpest quarterly rise of 148%, followed by Mumbai at 67.5%. On a year-on-year basis, Delhi NCR grew 49.9%, Bengaluru 31.1%, and Chennai 37.7%.
A steady pipeline of deals is supporting high leasing activity, while low vacancy levels show India’s growing importance in global expansion plans. Domestic companies are also benefiting from strong local fundamentals and rising global confidence in India’s talent-driven, innovation-focused growth.
Gross leasing activity during the September quarter was the highest ever recorded for this period, led by strong demand from occupiers in Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. The quarter also saw flexible workspace operators emerge as the largest occupier group, followed by technology companies that continued to expand their operational footprint across major office markets.
