Three in four occupiers plan to expand their office portfolios in India over next two years: CBRE

National, August 20, 2026: Corporate occupiers in the Indian office market are entering a phase of conviction-led growth, with three in every four of them intending to expand their portfolio here over the next two years, according to CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd.'s 2026 India Office Occupier Survey, the eighth edition of its flagship annual study. Interestingly, about 30% of the respondents are planning to grow their office portfolio here by more than 30% over the same time period. That share has increased from 18% a year ago, marking one of the strongest expansion sentiments recorded.

The survey, conducted between April and June 2026, asked the occupiers to share their views about their two-year portfolio expectations, ranging from ‘a decline’ to ‘a significantly larger growth of over 30%’. The most aggressive of those bands saw the sharpest movement, indicating that the firms driving this are optimistic about their expansion in the India market.

Nearly half of the surveyed occupiers plan to expand their real estate footprint by coupling business growth with expansion and consolidation strategies. Concurrently, approximately a quarter of occupiers intend to renew their existing leases over the next two years.

Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO - India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE said, "India's office occupiers are expanding with conviction. When nearly a third of occupiers are planning to grow their footprint by more than a third, that reflects a structural rather than cyclical shift in how corporates are approaching their India real estate strategy. Coming at a time when the office sector’s stock has crossed the 1-billion-square-feet milestone, this signals sustained confidence in India as a long-term destination for corporate growth."

Ram Chandnani, Managing Director, Leasing Services, India, CBRE, said, "What stands out this year is the breadth of this expansion, which is not confined to any single sector or region of origin with appetite grounded in operational need. About 63% of the large-sized occupiers plan to expand + consolidate in the next two years and we are likely to see this translate into active requirements across both established and emerging micro-markets."

The Indian office market has shown a strong performance in the last few years with the gross leasing hitting a record 24.6 mn. sq. ft. in Q2 2026 - up 18% sequentially and 14% year-on-year. This pushed the gross H1 2026 absorption to 45.5 mn. sq. ft., the best half-year on record and roughly 10% ahead of H1 2025. GCCs remain the single biggest engine of this growth, accounting for 42% of the quarterly take-up at a record 10.3 million sq. ft., while flex operators (27% share) and Fortune 500 occupiers (6.8 msf, 28% share) point to demand that's both broad-based and increasingly institutional grade in quality.

This is the first release in “Inside the Occupier Mind”, a five-part series drawn from CBRE’s 2026 India Office Occupier Survey. Successive instalments will examine the forces reshaping occupier decision-making this year, from the technologies influencing leasing strategy to the infrastructure, design and sustainability considerations now shaping where and how corporates choose to locate.

Note to Editors

Which factor has displaced global economic uncertainty at the top of occupiers’ leasing considerations this year - and why has it not yet changed how much space they are taking? Part 2 of “Inside the Occupier Mind” follows shortly.