‘Kolkata 2nd most expensive warehousing rental market among 8 Indian cities’

KOLKATA : Kolkata is the second most expensive warehousing rental market among the eight Indian cities as on September 30 with average rentals of Rs 23.6 /sq ft/month. The city witnessed warehousing transactions of 1.84 mn sq ft in H1 in the ongoing financial year.

In fact, Pune is the most expensive warehousing rental market in the country (among the reviewed eight cities) with average rents for grade A warehouses at Rs 25.9/sq ft/month followed by Kolkata with rental rate of Rs 23.6/sq ft/month and Mumbai at Rs 23.4/sq ft/month.

Knight Frank India’s report titled ‘India Warehousing Market Report-H1 FY 2024’ cited that warehouse leasing or transactions across primary eight markets of India was recorded at — 23 mn sq ft in H1 FY 2024 (April–September 2023).

About 53 per cent of these transactions occurred in Grade A spaces during the current analysis period.

Transaction activity was well distributed across markets. Pune, the leading market, accounted for 19 per cent of the total warehousing volume, driven primarily by the automotive industry.

Mumbai was the second most prolific market, representing 16 per cent of the total warehousing area transacted during the period, with the 3PL (third party logistics) sector as a significant contributor.

The relative unavailability of viable land for warehousing, high land prices and the lack of institutional supply has kept warehousing rates high. Rents grew by 2 per cent in the April to September 2023 period.

While occupier traction seems to have taken a pause in the current analysis period, rent growth across markets has been relatively healthy in H1 FY 2024 (September 30, 2023) compared to levels existing at the end of FY 2023 (March 31, 2023).

Pune and Chennai at 4 per cent and Ahmedabad with a 3 per cent growth in six months were markets with the most growth