Kolkata records 0.5 mn sq ft of gross leasing in Q1 2026

• In Q1 2026, Kolkata saw gross office leasing of 0.5 mn sq ft. Office space take-up grew 19% y-o-y and 53% q-o-q. Net absorption for the quarter reached 0.32 mn sq ft.
• Demand for office spaces was largely concentrated in the Rajarhat and Salt Lake submarkets. Rajarhat represented 69% of quarterly gross leasing, with Salt Lake accounting for 29%. IT & ITeS firms drove 68% of leasing activity, with co-working providers contributing 14%.

Lack of new office supply

• With no new office supply, vacancy declined by 90 basis points q-o-q to 13.6%. The SBD submarket saw a substantial 370 basis point quarterly decline in vacancy to 20.7% due to an uptrend in demand for office space from diversified business conglomerates.
• Total office stock remained unchanged at 29.6 mn sq ft due to the absence of new supply across submarkets. Despite Salt Lake and Rajarhat holding the largest share of office stock, these submarkets recorded an annual decline in vacancy to 10.9% and 9.8% respectively.

Rent growth was observed across submarkets

• Strong office space demand and consistent vacancy decline pushed rents to INR 70.5 per sq ft, marking a 4.9% y-o-y and 1.2% q-o-q rise for the overall market.
• Salt Lake submarket led rent growth with a 1.3% increase to INR 59.0 per sq ft, while Rajarhat posted a 1.1% rise to INR 54.5 per sq ft. Strong occupier demand coupled with a lack of new supply in these sought-after submarkets drove rent escalation.

Outlook: New office supply to strengthen demand and accelerate rent growth

• Multiple new office projects are scheduled for completion in 2026 and are expected to add nearly 1.6 mn sq ft of cumulative office supply in locations such as Newtown, Salt Lake Sector V and EM Bypass.
• The upcoming new supply is expected to stimulate occupier demand in key office precincts. Leasing activity by IT & ITeS firms and co‑working operators is expected to remain healthy and drive rental growth in the coming quarters.