Industrial, warehousing spaces demand rises 63% to record in Jan-Jun: CBRE

Leasing of industrial and warehousing spaces rose 63 per cent in the first six months of this calendar year to record 27.1 million square feet across eight major cities on better demand from e-commerce players, according to CBRE.

On Tuesday, real estate consultant CBRE noted that the third-party logistics (3PL) players took 32 per cent of the total spaces leased during January-June this year while e-commerce entities' share surged to 25 per cent.

"The dominance of 3PL and e-commerce, which together drove over half of H1 demand, underscores how rapidly evolving consumer expectations and supply chain optimisation are reshaping the landscape," said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO, India, Southeast Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE.

He said the next wave of growth would be defined by premium, sustainable, and tech-enabled facilities.

Ram Chandnani, Managing Director, Leasing, CBRE India, said, The robust growth in leasing activity, coupled with sustained institutional investments in quality assets, reflects the confidence of both occupiers and developers in India's industrial and logistics sector."  He said demand for industrial and warehousing spaces is rising in tier-II cities.

Among the eight major cities, Delhi-NCR saw the maximum leasing of industrial & warehousing spaces at 7.3 million square feet, followed by Bengaluru 4 million square feet, Hyderabad at 3.6 million square feet, Kolkata 3.3 million square feet, Mumbai 2.9 million sq ft, Chennai 2.3 million sq ft, Pune 2.2 million sq ft and Ahmedabad 1.4 million sq ft.

During January-June 2025, the supply of industrial & warehousing spaces stood at 16.7 million sq ft. Bengaluru, Chennai, and Mumbai accounted for 57 per cent of the total supply during this period.

With strong showing in the first half of 2025, the consultant hoped that the demand would remain robust in the second half.

"3PL, e-commerce, and retail sectors are likely to be the primary drivers of this space take-up as they aggressively pursue shorter delivery timelines and re-evaluate their supply chain models," CBRE forecast.