Warehousing witnessed over 50% growth YoY, almost 32 mn sq ft in 2018

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 spacesCities Driving Opportunities City2018 warehousing absorption (million sq ft)Delhi-NCR9.8Bengaluru4.6Pune3.9Mumbai3.6Kolkata3.4Chennai2.7Ahmedabad2.6Hyderabad1.2Source: 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