India's office stock current value at USD 186 bn; need to build new assets to meet demand: Report

New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) India's total office space stock is currently at over one billion square feet with an estimated value of USD 186 billion, but there is a need to focus on building new properties for sustaining the growth momentum, according to CII-Knight Frank India.

Industry body CII and real estate consultant Knight Frank India on Friday released a report on commercial real estate.

"India is the fourth-largest office market globally and has now achieved a defining milestone by crossing the 1 billion sq ft threshold in total office stock...The office stock is currently valued at approximately Rs 16.4 trillion (USD 186 bn), demonstrating the sector's depth and resilience," the report highlighted.

From under 200 million sq ft in the early 2000s to 1 billion sq ft in 2025, this remarkable expansion underscores India's emergence as one of the fastest-growing and most future-ready office markets in the world, it added.

The consultant said that gross leasing of office space surpassed 70 million sq ft in 2024 and has already reached 67 million sq ft in the first nine months of 2025, underscoring the market's structural strength despite global macroeconomic uncertainties.

"At this juncture, the Indian office market stands at a pivotal inflection point. The combination of limited new supply, surging occupier demand, and cautious developer sentiment is setting the stage for a period of rental appreciation, valuation uplift, and strategic recalibration," the report said.

To sustain its growth momentum and achieve the next milestone of 2 billion sq ft of office stock, the CII-Knight Frank report suggested that India must adopt a twin-pronged strategy, accelerate new supply creation while enhancing the productivity of existing assets.

"The acute undersupply in India's office real estate market is not just a function of post-COVID caution, it is increasingly driven by project-level economics that favour residential over commercial development," the report pointed out.

The consultant noted that residential capital values per square foot across prime micro-markets have significantly outpaced those of comparable commercial projects, sometimes by more than 2-3 times. PTI MJH MJH SHW