Industrial leasing grew 15% in H1 2026. The scarce input is land with clean title.

What the half-year looked like

Knight Frank India counted 36.8 million sq ft of industrial and warehousing leasing across eight primary markets in the first half of 2026, up 15% on 32.1 million a year earlier. Manufacturing occupiers, excluding FMCG and consumer durables, took 17.0 million sq ft (46%), up 17%. Third-party logistics took 11.1 million sq ft (30%), up 27%. E-commerce leasing fell 44%. (1)

Mumbai led with 10.7 million sq ft, up 44% and its highest half-year on Knight Frank's series. Knight Frank links part of that to the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, completed in March 2026, which runs from JNPT near Mumbai to Dadri in the National Capital Region. (1)

Where NCR sits

NCR leased 5.9 million sq ft, up 17%, the second-largest market. It holds 117.8 million sq ft of stock, about 20% of the eight-market total, with vacancy of 13.4% against 11.4% nationally. Average warehousing rent was Rs 22.6 per sq ft per month, up 5%. Only 39% of NCR stock is Grade A, against 47% nationally. (1)

That last number explains an odd headline. Grade A leasing fell 6% to 19.0 million sq ft in Knight Frank's data, while Grade B leasing rose 51% to 17.8 million. Knight Frank attributes the shift to geography: Mumbai and NCR, the two markets with the lowest Grade A share, took a bigger slice of demand, while Chennai and Pune, where Grade A dominates, both contracted. (1)

The numbers disagree

Colliers India reported nearly 22 million sq ft of Grade A leasing in H1 2026, up 12%, and about 25 million sq ft of new Grade A supply, up 27%. (2) That is the opposite direction to Knight Frank on Grade A leasing. CBRE says Delhi-NCR, Chennai and Bengaluru took about 60% of H1 leasing. (3) On Knight Frank's figures the same three cities took about 35% (5.9, 3.0 and 4.0 million sq ft out of 36.8). That is our arithmetic.

We found no published reconciliation. The firms cover different city sets and define Grade A and "industrial and logistics" differently, and we could not confirm the exact differences. The practical rule for an investment committee is to underwrite a range and to name the source behind every figure.

The constraint is on the supply side

Knight Frank closes its report with the point that matters for landowners. The principal constraint on supply is viable land, held back by "fragmented ownership, unresolved title chains and inconsistent zoning regulations", which slow approvals and shrink the investable pipeline. (1) Colliers expects Grade A supply to reach 45 to 50 million sq ft by the end of 2026, which shows how much capital is waiting for sites. (2) CBRE found that 33% of new warehousing supply in H1 2026 was institutionally backed. (3)

What we would check on an industrial parcel (our view)

• Title: a chain of registered conveyances back to the current owner, with the seller's authority documented separately.
• Land use: the permitted use for industrial or warehousing, or a clear path to it.
• Access: distance to expressways, the freight corridor and the nearest rail terminal.
• Power and utilities: sanctioned load available, not promised.
• Exit: who buys or leases it next. Institutional buyers want clean title and Grade A specification.

These are the land and industrial parameters in the AIS Deal Score.

Limits of this note

This is half-year data from consultants, each with its own method. It is not investment advice. Disclosure: AIS accepts industrial land and warehousing mandates and may benefit from interest in this segment.