Mumbai, Aug 20: The manufacturing space leasing in India reached an all-time high in the January-June period, recording an impressive 9 million square feet worth of transactions, a report showed on Tuesday.It is a 38 per cent year-on-year increase compared to H1 2024 (6.5 million sq ft) and remarkably stands at six times the pre-pandemic levels of H1 2019 (1.6 million sq ft), according to a JLL report.
The infrastructure continues its upward trajectory with Grade A warehousing facilities now constituting 55 per cent of the total 463 million sq ft stock across India’s eight major cities.
The market recorded 25 million sq ft of net absorption in H1 2025, with year-end projections expected to reach 55-57 million sq ft — a substantial 12-15 per cent increase from 50 million sq ft absorbed in 2024.
“India’s industrial real estate market is experiencing a fundamental structural shift, evidenced by manufacturing leases comprising 24 per cent of all transactions in H1 2025,” said Yogesh Shevade, Head (Industrial and Logistics), India, JLL.
The geographic concentration is equally telling, with Bengaluru, Pune, NCR Delhi, Chennai, and Mumbai collectively accounting for 90 per cent of India’s net demand, Shevade added.
Bengaluru emerged as the frontrunner in net demand during H1 2025, followed by Pune, NCR Delhi, Chennai, and Mumbai. Together, these five strategic markets represented 90 per cent of India’s total net demand, underlining their critical importance within the country’s industrial and logistics landscape.
The third-party logistics sector continues to dominate demand at 28 per cent, closely followed by manufacturing at 24 per cent, which encompasses automotive, engineering, electronics, and white goods industries.
Manufacturing companies are increasingly adopting asset-light approaches, optimising capital deployment while leveraging turnkey facilities with pre-secured regulatory approvals.
The growing requirement for quality manufacturing spaces is driving Built-to-Suit (BTS) transactions, which command markup rents 20-25 per cent above standard warehousing facilities due to tenant improvements related to process requirements/operations, the report mentioned.