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Around 75% of corporate occupiers surveyed by CBRE South Asia expect their office portfolios in India to expand over the next two years, indicating stronger corporate commitment to physical workplaces. The eighth edition of CBRE’s India Office Occupier Survey, conducted between April and June 2026, found that 30% of respondents expect their portfolios to grow by more than 30%, up from 18% in the previous survey. Another 33% anticipate a 10–30% increase, while 14% expect growth of less than 10%. The findings come as India’s office stock crosses 1 billion sq ft and leasing activity reaches record levels, with global capability centres and flexible workspace operators remaining major sources of demand.
India’s corporate office market is entering the next phase of expansion, with three in four occupiers planning to increase their office portfolios over the next two years, according to CBRE South Asia’s latest occupier survey. The findings are based on responses collected from more than 200 CXOs between April and June 2026, covering office strategies across India’s leading markets.
The intensity of planned expansion has also increased. About 30% of occupiers now expect their portfolios to grow by more than 30% over the next two years, compared with 18% in the previous year’s survey. A further 33% are targeting a more moderate increase of between 10% and 30%, while 14% foresee an expansion of less than 10%. Only 11% expect their portfolio size to remain unchanged, down from 18% in 2025.
Occupiers are not relying on a single strategy to accommodate this growth. Nearly half of respondents plan to combine business expansion with changes to their real estate footprint, including expansion and consolidation. Around one-fourth are expected to renew their existing leases during the same period.
The expansion outlook is being supported by the broader performance of India’s office market. Gross leasing reached 24.6 million sq ft in the second quarter of 2026, rising 18% sequentially and 14% from a year earlier. Cumulative absorption for the first half of the year stood at 45.5 million sq ft, the highest half-year figure recorded by CBRE and about 10% above the corresponding period in 2025.
Global capability centres (GCCs) continued to provide the largest source of quarterly demand, accounting for 42% of total absorption at 10.3 million sq ft. Flexible workspace operators represented another 27% of quarterly leasing. Fortune 500 companies accounted for 6.8 million sq ft, or 28% of the quarter’s absorption.
The survey also indicates that the expansion is not restricted to a particular industry or type of occupier. Ram Chandnani, Managing Director, Leasing Services, India, CBRE, said 63% of large occupiers were planning to expand and consolidate their portfolios, with requirements expected across both established and emerging office micro-markets.
Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO, India, South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE, said the scale of planned expansion pointed to a change in the way companies were approaching their India real estate strategies, rather than representing a short-term cyclical movement.
The occupier sentiment comes as India’s office stock has crossed 1 billion sq ft. CBRE’s latest survey also found that workplace decisions are increasingly being influenced by factors beyond the availability of space, including talent accessibility, commuting infrastructure, workplace experience and sustainability.
Flexible workspaces are expected to remain part of this changing portfolio mix, with 67% of occupiers surveyed by CBRE expecting flexible space to form part of their office portfolios over the next two years. Commute infrastructure was identified as a priority by 70% of respondents, while 52% had already established ESG goals for their real estate portfolios.
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