Leasing by the industrial and logistics (I&L) real estate sector grew by 28 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the first nine months of 2025, a report said on Friday.

The total leasing during the period, across the top eight Indian cities -- Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad -- stood at 37 million square feet (mn. sq. ft.), as compared to 28.8 mn. sq. ft. during the first 9 months in 2024.

"During the period this year, Delhi-NCR accounted for the largest share of total leasing activity at 11.7 mn. sq. ft., followed by Bengaluru at 5.7 mn. sq. ft. and Hyderabad at 4.6 mn. sq. ft. The three cities accounted for a cumulative share of 59 per cent," CBRE, a global commercial real estate and investment firm, said in its report.

Mumbai and Kolkata registered space take-up of 4.2 mn. sq. ft. and 3.8 mn. sq. ft., respectively.

"The demand is largely led by the expansion of Third-Party Logistics (3PL) providers and the accelerated deployment of quick commerce," said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO-India, South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE.

Companies are increasingly focused on supply chain optimisation and resilience, driving a mandate for sophisticated, high-specification Grade A assets that support automation and reduce last-mile friction, he added.

According to the report, during the nine months, the supply addition came in at 23.8 mn. sq. ft. as institutional investor-backed developers continued to expand their footprint. Bengaluru, Chennai, and Mumbai collectively accounted for 62 per cent of the total development completions.

In the July–September quarter (Q3 2025), total I&L leasing reached 10.4 mn. sq. ft.; third-party leasing (3PL) players accounted for a 40 per cent share, followed by e-commerce players at 18 per cent and engineering and manufacturing firms at 15 per cent, the report said.

The domestic corporates contributed 68 per cent to the total quarterly leasing, while EMEA corporates accounted for 14 per cent, it added.