Large-ticket transactions emerged as the primary growth driver for India’s industrial and warehousing sector in 2025, accounting for about 45 per cent of total leasing activity, according to Colliers India. Overall demand across the top eight cities stood at 36.9 million sq ft during the year, marking a robust 16 per cent year-on-year increase and one of the strongest performances in recent times.

Delhi NCR led annual leasing activity with a 24 per cent share, closely followed by Chennai at 22 per cent. On a quarterly basis, demand picked up sharply in the final quarter, with Q4 2025 witnessing around 10.4 million sq ft of leasing after a relatively subdued third quarter. Chennai and Pune together accounted for nearly 56 per cent of the quarterly demand, highlighting strong momentum in southern and western markets.

Third Party Logistics (3PL) players continued to dominate leasing, accounting for 32 per cent of total demand during the year. Engineering and e-commerce occupiers also gained traction and together contributed around 35 per cent of overall leasing. At the micro-market level, Bhiwandi in Mumbai emerged as the most active location with about 4.9 million sq ft of Grade A space uptake, followed by Chakan–Talegaon in Pune and Oragadam in Chennai, each recording more than 2.5 million sq ft of demand.

“A strong performance in the last quarter has propelled the demand for Grade A industrial & warehousing space to around 37 million sq ft in 2025, highest in recent years,” said Vijay Ganesh, Managing Director, Industrial & Logistics Services, Colliers India. He added that large deals, particularly by 3PL firms, underpinned leasing momentum, while developer confidence was reflected in over 40 million sq ft of completions during the year.

Large-sized transactions of 200,000 sq ft or more formed nearly half of total leasing, with 3PL players accounting for the bulk of these deals, followed by e-commerce and engineering companies. Within the e-commerce segment, about 61% of leasing was driven by large deals, reflecting the expansion of fulfilment centres and delivery hubs.

“Delhi NCR and Chennai each recorded over 8 million sq ft of demand in 2025, collectively contributing more than 45 per cent of leasing activity,” said Vimal Nadar, National Director & Head, Research, Colliers India. He added that with strong manufacturing clusters and infrastructure connectivity, key markets are expected to account for 70–80 per cent of demand in 2026 as well.