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Coworking operators leased a record 8.6 million sq ft of office space across India's seven major cities during the first half of 2026, marking a 32% year-on-year increase, according to a report by Colliers India. The growth outpaced conventional office leasing, which remained largely unchanged at 27.1 million sq ft, taking total gross office absorption to 35.7 million sq ft, up 6% from a year earlier. Flexible workspace providers accounted for 24% of overall leasing activity, with Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Hyderabad contributing nearly two-thirds of total demand. The findings indicate that occupiers, including corporates and Global Capability Centres (GCCs), continue to increase their reliance on managed workspaces, driving sustained expansion by flex space operators.
Coworking operators leased a record 8.6 million sq ft of office space across India's seven largest office markets during the January-June period of 2026, registering a 32% increase from 6.5 million sq ft in the corresponding period last year, according to a report released by Colliers India. The expansion in leasing activity enabled flexible workspace operators to account for nearly one-quarter of all office transactions during the first half of the calendar year.
The report showed that total gross office leasing across Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune rose 6% year-on-year to 35.7 million sq ft from 33.7 million sq ft in the first half of 2025. Gross absorption includes fresh leasing transactions and excludes lease renewals, pre-commitments and deals where only a letter of intent has been signed.
While overall office demand continued to grow, conventional leasing by property owners directly to corporate occupiers remained largely stable. Such transactions marginally declined to 27.1 million sq ft during the first six months of 2026 from 27.2 million sq ft a year earlier. In contrast, leasing by coworking operators reached its highest level on record, increasing its share of total office absorption to 24%.
Colliers noted that Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Hyderabad together accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total office space leased by flexible workspace operators during the period. These markets continued to benefit from strong occupier demand, particularly from technology companies, multinational corporations and Global Capability Centres, which increasingly prefer flexible real estate solutions to support changing workplace requirements.
Under the coworking model, operators lease large office spaces from landlords, develop and manage flexible office centres, and subsequently sublease workstations or office suites to businesses of varying sizes. Pricing is generally based on a per-desk monthly rental model, with charges typically ranging from INR 5,000 to INR 50,000 per workstation depending on location, amenities and workspace configuration.
The report highlights the continued expansion of an increasingly competitive flexible workspace sector led by operators such as WeWork India, Smartworks, Awfis and IndiQube, alongside other established companies including The Executive Centre, Incuspaze, Simpliwork Offices, COWRKS, Table Space, Urban Vault, 91Springboard, Innov8, Spring House Workspaces, BHIVE Workspace and The Office Pass.
Commenting on the market, Manas Mehrotra, Founder of 315Work Avenue, said organisations across sectors now view flexible workspaces as a long-term component of their real estate strategy rather than a temporary solution, reflecting the rapid expansion of the segment. Aashit Verma, Founder of Hanto Workspace, said the continued growth of flexible offices demonstrated India's attractiveness for Global Capability Centres and domestic companies, adding that ongoing reforms to the foreign direct investment framework and improving global economic conditions could further support demand for managed office spaces.
Source - PTI
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