Cisco Systems India has renewed its lease for nine office spaces of over 2.7 million sq ft in the largest lease transactions in the country since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company signed a deal with the Blackstone Group to renew the lease at the Cessna Business Parks at the Outer Ring Road in Bangalore. It had renewed the lease for the office space, which houses its data labs and development offices for the coming five years at a 20% increase to existing rentals, sources said. Earlier, Cessna Business Parks was owned by a real estate developer, Prestige Estate Projects and sold Blackstone as a part of its Rs 7,460 crore transaction. Later, Blackstone integrated its assets with Nucleus Office Parks. Occupants and tenants of the commercial complex in India, including large corporate offices, are renewing their lease agreements following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Corporates are renewing their office spaces in the main office markets where various deals were concluded. With the onset of the pandemic in the country, nearly 21 million sq ft office spaces have been renewed since April 2020. The rising interest in renewing the lease of office spaces by major organizations is an indication of the revival of business and hiring scenes. The power of Indian offices since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic shows that the IT or ITeS sectors have been largely affected by the economic decline. The occupiers continued to account for a majority of commercial lease activity at about 50% in 2020. IT sectors in India are expected to hire over 350,000 employees in 2020, doubling the average in the last five years, changing into more official space. The IT-BPO sector hired 55,000 employees in the June quarter and may conclude the net hiring to about 1.5 lakh employees, more than 50% of the best hiring year. The second half of 2021 is expected to witness an increased momentum in the office space. The net office absorption in 2021 in seven main cities is likely to remain blunt at about 25.6 million sq ft if there are no lockdowns. This year may conclude with a positive note due to the achieved vaccination targets and the declining rate of the Covid-19 pandemic. Image Source Also read: Rajasthan government finalises rates for issuing lease deeds