India office stock 1 billion sq ft: 917.7m now occupied

India office stock 1 billion sq ft is within reach. Occupied office space across eight markets rose 7% year-on-year to 917.7 million sq ft, nearing the 1-billion-sq-ft mark, according to Knight Frank India. The figures were published on October 21 and reported by ET.

Knight Frank separately reported occupied stock of 901.1 million sq ft as of June 30, 2026, up 6% from 847.0 million a year earlier, with total office stock of about 1.05 billion sq ft, as reported by TOI. The two readings put the India office stock 1 billion sq ft milestone firmly in sight.

India office stock 1 billion sq ft: how the eight markets break down

Bengaluru leads with 227.9 million sq ft of occupied stock, up 9%. NCR follows with 178.3 million sq ft, up 2%, and Mumbai has 148.2 million sq ft, up 5%. Hyderabad recorded 119.8 million sq ft with 11% growth, and Pune crossed the 100-million mark to reach 101.0 million sq ft, up 9%.

Chennai holds 89.5 million sq ft, up 5%. Ahmedabad grew 10% to 28.0 million sq ft, and Kolkata rose 9% to 25.0 million sq ft. The Bengaluru office market alone accounts for nearly a quarter of the national occupied total, and at 227.9 million sq ft it is nearly double Hyderabad's 119.8 million, which shows how concentrated the occupied base is.

India office stock 1 billion sq ft: what is driving demand

BFSI has emerged as the largest GCC-oriented office occupier, and other services are gaining momentum, Knight Frank India said. Within the GCC office demand pool, BFSI tenants have taken the largest share, a shift from the earlier IT-led wave. IT and ITES absorption corrected amid a global technology realignment, while manufacturing demand stayed relatively stable. That steadiness in GCC office demand is one reason the India office stock 1 billion sq ft milestone keeps getting closer.

GCC expansion alongside the growing footprint of domestic enterprises continues to underpin office demand, with occupiers increasingly looking at established markets that offer access to talent, quality infrastructure and scale. That is the view of Viral Desai, International Partner and Senior Executive Director at Knight Frank India, who said: "GCC expansion, alongside the growing footprint of domestic enterprises, continues to underpin office demand, with occupiers increasingly gravitating towards established markets that offer access to talent, quality infrastructure and scale."

What the CBRE occupier survey adds

CBRE's eighth annual occupier survey, conducted from April to June 2026, found three in four corporate occupiers plan to expand office portfolios over the next two years. About 30% plan to grow their portfolios by more than 30%. Gross office absorption was 45.5 million sq ft in H1 2026, the highest half-yearly leasing recorded, up about 10% from H1 2025.

The survey results line up with the occupied-stock numbers and put India office stock 1 billion sq ft on track for the coming quarters. Occupiers planning expansion need space, and the India office stock 1 billion sq ft reading shows that space is being taken up faster than it is being added. GCC office demand remains the steadiest leg of that expansion, with BFSI tenants taking the largest share of global capability centre space.

The 1.05 billion sq ft total

The two Knight Frank India readings, 901.1 million sq ft as of June 30 and 917.7 million sq ft in the newer figure, show the occupied base moving up by 16.6 million sq ft between the reports, taking India office stock 1 billion sq ft closer with each reading. Total office stock of about 1.05 billion sq ft against 917.7 million sq ft occupied leaves the vacancy arithmetic simple: most of the built stock is spoken for.

Office absorption India numbers for H1 2026, at 45.5 million sq ft gross, are the strongest half-yearly leasing on record. The office absorption India figure beats the previous half-yearly record, CBRE's survey found, which matches the 10% rise over H1 2025.

With Hyderabad growing 11%, Ahmedabad 10% and Bengaluru and Pune each 9%, the growth is spread across the big markets rather than resting on one city. The Bengaluru office market stays the anchor of the India office stock 1 billion sq ft total, with NCR and Mumbai next in line, and the 1-billion mark is a matter of quarters, not years, on the current run rate.