Logistics leasing in the country grew 31 percent year-on-year, crossing 13 million square feet across eight major cities in the first half of 2019. Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru accounted for more than 60 percent of leasing activity, according to a report by property consultant CBRE. An investment of over $200 million was seen in the industrial and logistic real estate segment. Demand for warehousing/logistics space was driven by third-party logistic firms, which absorbed 56 percent of the total space, CBRE said in its report: India Industrial and Logistics Market View, H1 2019. In comparison to the second half of 2018, the logistics space take-up was dominated by small-sized transactions (less than 50,000 sq ft), accounting for about 38 percent of leasing activity in H1 2019. Share of medium-sized transactions (ranging between 50,000 sq ft and 100,000 sq ft) rose to 32 percent in H1 2019 from 26 percent in H2 2018. Large-sized deals (greater than 100,000 sq ft) accounted for 30 percent of leasing activity during H1 2019, the report stated. Cities such as NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru are expected to dominate the supply pipeline, with the average size of warehouses in NCR and Mumbai likely to exceed one million sq ft, it said. Other cities such as Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune are also expected to see supply addition, but the average size of developments pegged to be in the 0.3 -0.5 million sq ft category.

(Moneycontrol)