India's industrial and logistics sector hits new leasing peak in H1 2025, e-commerce emerges as top contributor

New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Overall industrial and logistic (I&L) leasing in India has marked a new peak during the January-June period (H1 2025), surging 63 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 27.1 million square feet across the top eight cities, a report said on Tuesday.

The third-party logistics (3PL) sector continued to lead in I&L space take-up with a market share of 32 per cent in H1 2025, CBRE, a real estate consulting firm, said in its recent report.

However, the surge was majorly led by the e-commerce sector, which saw its market share more than double from 9 per cent in H1 2024 to 25 per cent in H1 2025, the report stated.

I&L leasing by the engineering and manufacturing (E&M) sector also increased from 18 per cent in H1 2024 to 19 per cent in H1 2025.

The government-led infrastructure projects and policy initiatives, such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and 'Make in India 2.0', have significantly strengthened the country's manufacturing sector, resulting in a heightened demand for warehousing space from E&M companies, the report stated.

Among the three regions, Asia Pacific-based companies recorded their highest space take-up at 2.7 million square feet during Q2 2025 (up from 0.6 million square feet in Q2 2024), followed by American and EMEA-based firms at 1.9 million square feet and 1.7 million square feet, respectively.

“The dominance of 3PL and e-commerce, which together drove over half of H1 demand, underscores how rapidly evolving consumer expectations and supply chain optimisation are reshaping the landscape," said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO, India, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE.

"We foresee the next wave of growth being defined by premium, sustainable, and tech-enabled facilities, alongside accelerated expansion into tier-II cities to tap into underserved markets," he added.

In H1 2025, I&L supply stood at 16.7 million square feet.

According to the report, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Mumbai emerged as the key contributors to this supply addition, collectively accounting for 57 per cent of the total supply during this period.

Among cities, during H1 2025, Delhi-NCR led the demand with an absorption of 7.3 million square feet, followed by Bengaluru at 4.0 million square feet and Hyderabad at 3.6 million square feet.

Cumulatively, the three cities accounted for almost 55 per cent of the leasing volume, the report highlighted.

--IANS

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