BFSI Segment Drives Record Office Space Leasing in 2024: JLL

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) firms rented a record 135 lakh square feet of office space in 2024 across seven major cities, becoming a major demand driver for the segment along with technology companies, according to JLL India.

Real estate consultant JLL India noted that the office space leased by the BFSI segment in the last three calendar years has surpassed the leasing in the preceding six years (2016-2021).

JLL data showed that the BFSI segment took on lease a record 135 lakh square feet in 2024 against 113 lakh square feet in the preceding year.

The share of the BFSI segment in the total gross leasing of office space across seven major cities remained flat at around 17-18 per cent.

In 2024, the total gross leasing or absorption of office space increased to 77.2 million (772 lakh) sq ft year-on-year against 63 million (630 lakh) sq ft.

The seven cities tracked by JLL India are Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune.

Out of the total 135 lakh sq ft area leased by the BFSI segment last year, domestic BFSI contributed 31.7 per cent to the demand, while foreign entities lapped up 68.3 per cent.

In 2023, domestic firms' share was 42.3 per cent and foreign entities' part stood at 57.7 per cent.

The BFSI segment leased around 31 million (310 lakh) sq ft office space in the three-year period of 2022-2024, higher than even the 29 million (290 lakh) sq ft leased in the previous six-year period of 2016-2021, the consultant said.

JLL data is only of office space taken by BFSI directly from property owners. The workspaces taken by BFSI in coworking centres have not been factored in.