Bharti Airtel likely to move HQ to business hub Aerocity in Delhi

India's No 2 telecom is in discussions to take up more than 700,000 sq ft space in upcoming Worldmark office buildings

Bharti Airtel is likely to move out of Airtel Centre, famous for its red, blue and white facade on the Gurugram-Delhi Expressway, and take up space in the global business district in Aerocity in the national capital, according to two senior telecom industry executives.

 

The executives said that discussions are on to take up nearly 700,000-750,000 sq ft of office space on lease at Worldmark 4, 5 and 6 buildings under construction at the global business district, which has more than 3 million sq ft of Grade A office space available for lease. The space spans eight floors and has three levels of car parking, which has spaces for charging electric vehicles.

 

“Discussions are ongoing for taking up space, which will be either same or a little more from what it currently has at the Airtel Centre. The new [buildings at] Worldmark are expected to be ready by the year end, or early next year. Airtel is likely to move to one of these buildings once they are ready,” one of them said.

 

According to sources, its a better location with amenities. The Airtel Centre will continue to be with them in a way that it is part of the assets under BIRET where Bharti Enterprises is a shareholder.

 

Bharti Airtel did not respond to questions from Business Standard.

 

Airtel Centre has gross leasable area of more than 692,000 sq ft across eight floors and three levels of basement car parking. It includes amenities such as a health club, day care, a cafeteria in the courtyard and a food court. The single-tower building in Phase IV, Sector 18, of Gurgaon spreads over 4.7 acres and it has natural lighting across all eight floors. It was completed in 2009 and has been the headquarters of India’s second largest telecom services provider ever since. The Airtel Centre, Worldmark 1,2 and 3 in Aerocity and Worldmark Gurugram, a mixed-use complex, total 3.3 million sq ft and were partially divested by Bharti Enterprises to Brookfield India Real Estate Trust (BIRET) for ₹6,000 crore in May 2024.

 

Bharti Enterprises became the second largest unitholder in BIRET, India’s only fully institutionally managed office real estate investment trust.

 

Bharti Airtel did not respond to questions from 'Business Standard'.

 

The company’s office space in Aerocity is part of the 17-20 mn sq ft global business district being developed by Bharti Group’s real estate arm Bharti Real Estate. Space under development includes Worldmark-branded Grade A office spaces spanning 3.5 million sq ft and 250,000 sq ft of retail space within the office space and a 2.8 million sq ft of country’s largest retail space called The Mall.

 

“All the top players, wherever they may be, can’t miss this global business district. Today or tomorrow, they all will come here and make this as their frontal (showcase/ headquarter) office even if they keep spaces in other locations where the rentals are relatively lower,” said S K Sayal, managing director and chief executive officer of Bharti Real Estate. He noted that any discussion with Bharti Airtel on leasing the space would happen at an arm's length since it was a listed group company.

 

Market experts said that Aerocity’s global business district is among the few upcoming locations for Grade A office spaces in Delhi, which has had much lower supply than demand compared to neighbouring markets of Gurugram, Haryana, and Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

 

“Aerocity is a premier development. The existing business districts in Delhi are either old or there are very few good locations that are coming up. This location is well connected, within the city through road and metro as well as outside the city, through the airport,” said a market expert, requesting not to be named.

 

“While Airtel Centre is in a good location, DLF’s Atria is also offering high quality office spaces in Gurugram at higher rental than buildings on the same location as Airtel Centre. But Aerocity is a far more prestigious location in Delhi, which is why they can command a 50-60 per cent premium,” the person added.