Mumbai: Led by global capability centres (GCCs), the year 2024 marked a watershed year for the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector in India’s commercial real estate, which leased 13.45 million square feet (sq ft), claiming a 17.4 per cent share of the annual leased space, a report showed on Monday.
Notably, the BFSI segment leased 31 million sq ft office space in the three-year period of 2022-2024, higher than even the 29 million sq ft leased in the previous six-year period of 2016-2021, according to a report by JLL.
Global BFSI firms accounted for a significant 59.0 per cent share of space leased by the BFSI sector in the last three years.
India’s strong talent pool, digitisation push, financial inclusion, and consumption potential are key drivers of the BFSI sector’s growth.
“Global firms, particularly GCCs, are driving this surge, as they accounted for 59 per cent of BFSI leasing in the last three years. This data underscores BFSI’s pivotal role in reshaping India’s office market landscape and the country’s emergence as a global financial services hub,” said Dr Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head of Research and REIS, India, JLL.
Domestic firms have also not remained far behind as they leased 12.7 million sq ft across the top seven cities between 2022-24 as well, Das informed.
Strong domestic BFSI space take-up drove demand in markets like Mumbai while global firms were the drivers in the other large office markets in the country.
GCC set-ups, both new and headcount expansion in existing ones, have been at the forefront of the leasing activity by global firms in India.
Since, 2022, GCCs have leased 67.4 million sq. ft, with BFSI accounting for a 20.7 per cent. In 2024, BFSI share in GCC leasing rose to 25.2 per cent, making it the second biggest component after tech, the report mentioned.
Mumbai maintains its position as the financial capital, while Delhi-NCR leverages its strategic location and infrastructure.
Bengaluru’s tech ecosystem is attracting fintech innovators, Hyderabad is benefiting from its strong IT and pharma sectors, Chennai is carving out its niche as a southern BFSI hub, while Pune is strongly emerging as a BFSI GCC hub.
“Markets like Pune and Chennai also saw global BFSI firms accounting for a 68-72 per cent share in leasing activity by this segment while Delhi NCR had a 60 per cent share of global BFSI companies for the same period,” said Rahul Arora, Head, Office Leasing and Retail Services, Senior Managing Director (Karnataka, Kerala), India, JLL.
—IANS