India’s operational office REIT portfolio rises 74% to 167 mn sq ft in H1 2026: Report

Mumbai, Sept 15 (TNT): India’s operational office REIT portfolio expanded 74 per cent year-on-year to 167 million sq ft in the first half of 2026, from 95.8 million sq ft in H1 2025, according to the latest ASSOCHAM-Knight Frank India report, Building Viksit Bharat – Real Estate as a Catalyst for Growth.

The sharp increase reflects the growing role of REITs and InvITs in aggregating assets, monetising holdings and recycling capital across real estate and infrastructure-linked assets, the report said.

The operational retail REIT portfolio stood at 11 million sq ft, while the warehousing InvIT portfolio stood at 44.2 million sq ft as of June 2026.

Office remains the dominant segment of India’s REIT market.

The operational office REIT portfolio accounts for 16 per cent of the country’s 1.05 billion sq ft office stock, while the under-construction portfolio is equivalent to 19 per cent of the existing operational REIT stock.

REIT penetration varies significantly across major office markets. Bengaluru recorded the highest penetration, with 67.6 million sq ft of REIT-backed office stock accounting for 27 per cent of its 254 million sq ft office inventory.

Hyderabad followed with 26.2 million sq ft of REIT-backed office stock, covering 20 per cent of its 129.1 million sq ft office inventory. Mumbai had 24.6 million sq ft, accounting for 14 per cent of its office stock.

NCR and Pune recorded REIT coverage of 11 per cent each, while Chennai and Kolkata had 10 per cent each. Ahmedabad had the lowest coverage at one per cent.

Listed office REIT platforms have a combined 36 million sq ft of office space under construction.

Bengaluru accounted for the largest share at 16.3 million sq ft, followed by Mumbai at 4.6 million sq ft, Hyderabad at 3.9 million sq ft and Chennai at 3.8 million sq ft.

Knight Frank India Chairman and Managing Director Shishir Baijal said the expansion of listed REITs had strengthened the exit and capital-recycling mechanism available to institutional real estate investors.

He said institutionalisation was also extending beyond office assets, with the expansion of retail REITs widening the geographic footprint of institutional real estate ownership.

ASSOCHAM Secretary General Saurabh Sanyal said real estate was emerging as a key growth enabler for India, with the sector expected to support investment, employment and the expansion of manufacturing, logistics, technology and new-age businesses.

The operational retail REIT portfolio stood at 11 million sq ft as of June 2026, with Nexus Select Trust accounting for 10.7 million sq ft and Brookfield India Real Estate Trust for 0.4 million sq ft.

Retail REITs have a more dispersed geographic footprint than office REITs. Around 4.6 million sq ft, or 45 per cent of total retail REIT stock, is located outside the eight major office markets, including cities such as Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, Amritsar, Udaipur, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Indore and Ludhiana.

The report said retail institutionalisation was driven more by consumer catchments, population and spending patterns, while office institutionalisation was linked largely to employment centres and corporate occupier markets.

The warehousing InvIT portfolio stood at 44.2 million sq ft as of June 2026, comprising 32.2 million sq ft of operational assets and a 12 million sq ft development pipeline.

The two listed warehousing platforms have a combined operational portfolio of around 32.2 million sq ft, with NDR InvIT Trust accounting for 23 million sq ft and TVS Infrastructure Trust for 9.3 million sq ft.

NDR InvIT’s portfolio covers 17 cities, while TVS Infrastructure Trust has 18 industrial parks across 10 special purpose vehicles in five states.

Occupancy stood at around 99.8 per cent for NDR InvIT and above 98 per cent for TVS Infrastructure Trust, according to the report.

The report said warehousing was emerging as an important component of the InvIT market, expanding the opportunity beyond traditional infrastructure assets such as roads and fibre.

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