New Delhi, Apr 16 (FN Agency) On the back of steady leasing, industrial and warehousing supply in January-March (Q1) period of 2024 inched towards 7 million square feet, consultancy firm Colliers India said in a report on Tuesday. As per the report, Mumbai and Chennai led the demand with about 55% share. Leasing activities in Chennai also remained robust, with industrial & warehousing space take-up in Q1 2024 almost twice the leasing activity in corresponding period of last year. “Across the top five cities, Bhiwandi in Mumbai with 1.7 million sq ft of Grade A demand, was the most active market for Q1 2024. Bhiwandi was followed by Oragadam in Chennai, which surpassed the leasing activity of Chakan Talegoan in Pune for the first time in a while,” the report said.
Third-party logistics players (3PL) continued to be the top occupiers of industrial and warehousing space, contributing to over 40% in the total warehousing demand. 3PL space uptake was driven by healthy activity in Chennai particularly. The city accounted for about 43% of the overall 3PL activity in the top five cities. Interestingly, at the pan-India level, retail players accounted for 16% of the demand during the quarter, followed by engineering and automobile players with 12% share each. “While 3PL players continued to drive industrial & warehousing leasing activity, demand from retail, engineering and automobile players too accounted for a significant share in Q1 2024. It is noteworthy to see that the cumulative share of these three sectors have risen from 26% in Q1 2023 to 40% in Q1 2024. This signifies changing consumption patterns and hints at opportunities emerging in the sector from the steady demand diversification.” said Vijay Ganesh, Managing Director, Industrial & Logistics Services, Colliers India.