Whalesbook
2025 Sets New Record for Indian Warehousing Leases
Industrial and warehousing leasing across India's top eight cities surged to a record 36.9 million sq ft in 2025. This represents a robust 16% year-on-year growth, marking one of the sector's strongest performances in recent years. The surge was propelled by sustained occupier demand, particularly from the logistics, engineering, and e-commerce segments.
Key Demand Drivers and Hubs
Third-party logistics (3PL) players were the primary demand drivers, accounting for approximately 32% of total leasing activity. Engineering and e-commerce sectors also significantly scaled up their requirements. Delhi NCR and Chennai emerged as the dominant industrial hubs, together capturing 24% and 22% of the total absorption, respectively. These regions are projected to continue their strong performance into 2026.
Large Transactions Fuel Growth
Large-format transactions, defined as deals of 200,000 sq ft and above, played a critical role, constituting around 45% of the total absorption. This highlights occupier confidence and the increasing scale of operations. Notable leases included Scootsy Logistics (Swiggy) taking 580,700 sq ft in Bhiwandi, Mumbai, and Amazon securing 500,000 sq ft in Delhi NCR. Manufacturing-led demand was also evident with companies like Honda and Jabil Inc. expanding their footprints.
Supply and Rental Dynamics
Developers responded to the robust demand by adding 41.7 million sq ft of new Grade A space in 2025, a 15% year-on-year increase. Despite this supply addition, vacancy levels remained stable at around 16%, supported by strong absorption. Average rentals across prime industrial and warehousing clusters saw a healthy increase of 5–10% for the year, reflecting limited availability of quality space.