According to a research issued on Thursday by real estate company Knight Frank India, sales in India’s top eight office markets saw an extraordinary spike, hitting 28.2 million square feet (mn sq ft) in Q1 (Jan-March) 2025—the largest ever recorded in a single quarter.

Strong economic momentum and occupier confidence drove transaction volumes to unprecedented levels. According to the research, this is an astounding 74% year-over-year (YoY) increase, exceeding by 48% the previous milestone achieved in Q3 2024.

With 12.7 million square feet of purchases, or 45% of the total office space uptake, Bengaluru dominated the office market growth in Q1 2025. Bengaluru’s office transactions increased by a staggering 259% year over year in the first quarter of 2024. Pre-commitments accounted for up to 58%, or 0.7 million square meters (7.4 million square feet), of the space that was transacted in Bengaluru.

Hyderabad kept up its pace, with office demand hitting 4 million square feet. Mumbai (3.5 million square feet) and Pune (3.7 million square feet) also established new quarterly records for transaction volumes.

Bengaluru and Pune emerged as the primary volume drivers of India’s office industry, surpassing the country’s YoY growth rate of 74%.

With 12.4 million square feet of sales, or 44% of the overall market share, office transactions were mostly driven by Global Capability Centers (GCC). Flex operators, with 5.5 million square feet, commanded 20% of the market share, closely followed by third-party IT services, which accounted for 19%.

With 8 million square feet and 2.1 million square feet of transactions, respectively, Bengaluru led the GCC in terms of transaction volumes and third-party IT services. With 1.61 million square feet occupied by flex operators during the quarter, Pune topped the world in flex space transactions.

With 12.4 million square feet of transactions and 44% of the overall demand, Global Capability Centers were a major factor in propelling the Indian office market. In Q1 2025, Bengaluru accounted for 65 percent of all GCC deals, or over 8 million square feet.

“The first quarter of 2025 was a remarkable time for the Indian office space market,” said Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director of Knight Frank India. India’s reputation as a long-term investment destination is growing globally as the demand for GCC countries continuously breaks records.

“Vacancy levels decreased from 17.2 percent in 2021 to a respectable 14.3 percent in Q1 2025 as a result of completions continuously trailing transactions. Since early 2022, rents have been trending upward because to the supply shortage in the main areas,” he said.

Aside from a limited supply, the office space market has few challenges as India continues to dominate on growth metrics, and it seems poised to keep up its momentum through 2025, the research said.