Warehousing space demand in B'luru, Chennai, Hyderabad down 5%: Vestian

Leasing of warehousing spaces in three major southern cities -- Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai -- fell 5% to 10.2 mn square feet during the last year on subdued demand, according to Vestian

Leasing of warehousing spaces in three major southern cities -- Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai -- fell 5 per cent to 10.2 million square feet during the last year on subdued demand, according to Vestian.

During the 2022 calendar year, the total leasing of warehousing space in these three cities stood at 10.7 million square feet.

Third-party logistics firms, engineering & manufacturing companies, and e-commerce players take warehousing spaces on lease and are major demand drivers.

Real estate consultant Vestian data showed that the share of these three southern cities fell to 27 per cent in 2023 from 34 per cent in the previous year.

Across seven major cities, the leasing of warehousing and logistics spaces grew 21 per cent to 37.8 million square feet in 2023 from 31.2 million square feet in the previous year.

Among cities, the demand in Bengaluru fell to 3.6 million square feet from 4.1 million square feet.

Hyderabad too witnessed a fall at 3.1 million square feet as against 3.7 million square feet in the previous year.

However, the leasing of office space in Chennai grew to 3.5 million square feet from 2.9 million square feet.

In Mumbai, the leasing of warehousing space surged to 10.2 million square feet from 6 million square feet.

The demand in Delhi-NCR increased to 8.8 million square feet from 7.3 million square feet.

In Pune, the leasing of warehousing space rose to 7 million square feet from 5.2 million square feet.

Vestian attributed the growth in Pune to the presence of a trade hub of Chakan MIDC, which hosts large manufacturing and logistics parks.

In Kolkata, the leasing of warehousing and logistics spaces declined to 1.6 million square feet from 2.1 million square feet.

Limited availability of Grade A warehouses in Kolkata posed a challenge in meeting growing demand, leading to a decrease in absorption, Vestian said.

Shrinivas Rao, CEO at Vestian said, "The Union Budget 2024-25 is expected to set the tone for next couple of years. Recent announcements of infrastructure development in the interim Budget may have a positive impact on the sector."

"However, 2024 can be a challenging year for the Indian warehousing sector as investments were on a downward trend in 2023," Rao cautioned.

Vestian is one of the leading real estate consultants in the world. In India, it is headquartered in Bengaluru and has a presence in major cities.