India’s office real estate story is being rewritten by Global Capability Centres. Even as macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions weighed on global business sentiment, India’s commercial property market stood out in 2025, posting record office leasing across major cities. At the centre of this resilience are GCCs, which now account for more than 40 percent of total office leasing in the country’s top seven cities.
According to the FICCI-ANAROCK report, Workplaces 2025: India Commercial Real Estate Reimagined, India hosted more than 1,700 GCCs by the end of 2024, employing over 1.9 million professionals. By 2030, that number is expected to rise to over 2,400 GCCs, creating employment for more than 2.8 million people.
From Cost Centres to Strategic Hubs
India’s GCC journey has moved far beyond its original positioning as a low-cost back office destination. Today, these centres are deeply embedded in global business strategy, handling high-value functions across IT and ITeS, BFSI, healthcare and life sciences, and engineering research and development.
Anuj Puri, Chairman of ANAROCK Group, notes that India’s GCC market has grown from USD 30 billion in 2019 to around USD 64 billion in 2024. “The momentum is expected to continue,” he says, with the market projected to reach USD 105 to 110 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual rate of 10 percent.
This expansion is underpinned by India’s ability to attract and retain global talent, its cost competitiveness, and the depth of its skilled workforce, all of which are driving sustained demand for premium office spaces.
Leasing Records Point to Structural Strength
In 2025 alone, gross office leasing across the top seven cities touched approximately 80.5 million square feet. GCCs accounted for over 32.5 million square feet of this demand, highlighting their growing dominance in office absorption.
Bengaluru continues to lead the GCC landscape decisively. The city is home to over 875 GCCs, representing nearly 29 percent of India’s total. In 2025, Bengaluru captured more than one-third of the country’s total GCC leasing, supported by its deep talent pool, mature ecosystem and continued global investor interest.
Pune followed with a 15 percent share of GCC leasing, while Delhi-NCR and Hyderabad each accounted for 14 percent, reflecting their rising appeal but still trailing Bengaluru’s scale and concentration.
Tier-2 Cities Emerge as the Next Frontier
One of the most significant shifts highlighted in the report is the expansion of GCCs beyond India’s top seven cities. Tier-2 markets such as Jaipur, Indore, Kochi, Surat and Coimbatore are steadily gaining prominence as alternative growth hubs.
This trend is driven by a mix of lower operating costs, improving infrastructure, growing talent availability and proactive state-level GCC policies. As companies look to diversify risk and tap new labour pools, these cities are moving firmly onto the global occupier map.
For real estate developers and investors, this signals a broader and more distributed demand base, reducing over-dependence on traditional metro markets.
Grade A Supply Keeps Pace With Demand
India’s office supply pipeline has kept up with this demand surge. Grade A office stock across the top seven cities has reached around 800 million square feet, led by Bengaluru and NCR, which together account for nearly half of the total supply.
In 2025, new office completions crossed 51 million square feet, an 8 percent increase over the previous year. Southern markets continued to dominate new supply additions, contributing around 51 percent of total completions.
Raj Menda, Chairman of the FICCI Committee on Urban Development and Real Estate and Chairman of the Supervisory Board at RMZ Corp, describes this shift succinctly. India’s office real estate, he says, is no longer just physical infrastructure, but a strategic system that supports productivity, culture, technology and climate resilience.
REITs and the Road to Institutionalisation
The report also underlines the gradual institutionalisation of India’s office real estate market through Real Estate Investment Trusts. Since the first REIT listing in 2019, India has built a REIT market capitalisation of nearly USD 18 billion across five listed vehicles.
Yet, REITs currently represent only about 20 percent of institutional real estate in India. Out of roughly 520 million square feet of REITable office stock, only about 165 million square feet is listed, pointing to substantial headroom for growth.
As portfolios diversify into data centres, logistics parks and retail assets, REIT penetration could rise to 25 to 30 percent by 2030, bringing India closer to mature global markets.
A Sector Positioned for Long-Term Growth
With FDI inflows rising 14 percent year-on-year in FY25 and office demand broadening across sectors such as coworking, BFSI, consultancy and manufacturing, the outlook for India’s commercial real estate remains positive.
GCCs have clearly become the backbone of this story. As they expand in scale, geography and function, they are reshaping not just office demand, but also how cities grow, where talent clusters, and how India positions itself in the global economy.
