Industrial, warehousing leasing gains momentum

Industrial and warehousing leasing across India’s top eight cities remained strong, reaching nearly 22 million sq ft in the first half of 2026, up 12 per cent year‑on‑year, a report said on Thursday.

New supply outpaced demand with about 25 million sq ft of completions during H1 2026, the report from Colliers said.

Delhi-NCR and Chennai together accounted for more than 45 per cent of leasing in H1 2026, while Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru each recorded over 2 million sq ft of Grade A uptake, reflecting resilient occupier demand across major logistics hubs.

The report added that third‑party logistics (3PL) firms drove roughly 30 per cent of overall demand, followed by engineering at 21 per cent and e‑commerce at 16 per cent.

The second quarter, however, witnessed a marginal dip in demand as compared to Q1 2026 on account of supply chain disruptions stemming from the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

With around 11 million sq ft of leasing in Q2 2026, Grade A space uptake eased by 1 per cent on a quarterly basis. With renewed focus on improving domestic manufacturing capabilities, overall demand could be on an upswing in upcoming quarters, provided the impact of global volatilities remains limited, the report noted.

“The annual growth is particularly significant, given the challenging second quarter amid evolving global supply chains. Cities such as Pune, Ahmedabad and Kolkata witnessed growth of 30 per cent and upwards, signalling the emergence of a more diversified demand landscape,” said Vijay Ganesh, Managing Director, Industrial and Logistics Services, Colliers India.

“Infrastructure-led development and expanding domestic manufacturing, coupled with moderating global headwinds, are expected to reinforce the growth trajectory of the industrial and warehousing sector through 2026,” he added.

Industrial and warehousing space uptake continued to be concentrated within select high-performing logistics clusters. Bhiwandi in Mumbai and Farukh Nagar and NH 48 in Delhi NCR together accounted for over one-third of the demand during the first half of 2026.