GCC leasing in India hits record quarterly high in Jan-March 2026

New Delhi, April 6 (IANS) Global capability centres (GCCs) leasing in India reached a record 9.1 million square feet in the January-March period this year — the highest quarterly GCC absorption on record, a report showed on Monday.

This comes against the backdrop of the country's overall office sector registering a gross absorption of 20.7 million sq ft — the highest level recorded for any quarter, according to the report by CBRE South Asia Pvt Ltd.

As compared to 19.7 million sq ft in Q1 2025, overall leasing was up 5 per cent this year, underscoring the structural resilience of the office sector as occupiers’ appetite continues to hold steady.

"The record GCC leasing activity is a definitive signal of India's position as the global destination of choice for high-complexity capability functions," said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO–India, South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE.

It is significant that this demand is not concentrated in a single sector but spans across sectors, including e-commerce, technology, and BFSI, and is increasingly being driven by mid-market and nano GCCs, alongside established Fortune 500 occupiers, he mentioned.

The GCC ecosystem in India is being democratised by the rise of mid-market and nano GCCs, signalling a shift towards more diverse operating models.

Mid-market GCCs are evolving into high-maturity transformation hubs, taking end-to-end ownership of global products and high-value services within domains such as FinTech, SaaS and digital engineering.

Simultaneously, nano GCCs are emerging as agile, specialised innovation units focused on rapid AI prototyping and niche research and development (R&D), often leveraging managed workspace formats to support faster set-up and phased expansion.

The report also highlighted that GCCs accounted for 44 per cent of the total office absorption in Q1 2026.

This was largely dominated by American firms, contributing 73 per cent of the total GCC leasing.

From a sector perspective, e-commerce (24 per cent), BFSI (20 per cent), technology (20 per cent), and research, consulting and analytics (19 per cent) were the leading demand drivers.

Among the top cities, Bengaluru led GCC leasing with a 48 per cent share, followed by Hyderabad at 19 per cent and Delhi-NCR at 14 per cent.

"Across cities, we are seeing demand broaden both in terms of sectors and geographies," said Ram Chandnani, Managing Director, Leasing Services, India, CBRE.

—IANS

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