The year 2018 saw India’s warehousing and logistics sector coming of age, outshining some conventional real estate asset classes and attracting the attention of global investors.

Indeed, the year witnessed a 22-per-cent, year-on-year (YoY) growth in total stock in Grade A and B warehousing space in the top eight cities, while total inventory in these cities evolved to 169 million sq ft in 2018 from 138 million sq ft a year ago. Interestingly, according to JLL, the absorption in total warehousing space also witnessed over 50 per cent growth YoY, reaching almost 32 million sq ft in 2018. Built-to-suit developments constituted 26 per cent of the absorption last year. Clearly, demand is outstripping supply significantly, with vacancies dropping below 10 per cent for the first time ever.

 Source: JLL Industrial Research 2019 for Grade-A & B spaces in top 8 cities in India 

               *includes BTS spaces

Cities Driving Opportunities

City	2018 warehousing absorption (million sq ft)
Delhi-NCR	9.8
Bengaluru	4.6
Pune	3.9
Mumbai	3.6
Kolkata	3.4
Chennai	2.7
Ahmedabad	2.6
Hyderabad	1.2

Source: JLL India

India’s top eight cities are driving warehousing opportunities.

Delhi-NCR remained buoyant, with over 25 per cent of total absorption.

There is a growing focus in Tier-II cities, including Coimbatore, Guwahati, Jaipur, Lucknow, Nagpur and Ludhiana.

SERAPHINA D’SOUZA