ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

2022 has been a year of challenges for most economies. Supply chain disruption and geopolitical events such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent spiralling of energy prices among other things, have meant that inflation has remained beyond the comfort level of most central banks.

In India, elevated retail inflation has prompted the Reserve Bank of India to scale back growth prospects and withdraw from its accommodative stance. With a view to ease inflationary pressures, the RBI has increased the benchmark lending rate to 5.9%, up from 4.0% in first half of the current fiscal year. A depreciating Indian Rupee has been the other concern for policy makers and the RBI had to intervene in the forex market to check its freefall.

DELHI-NCR OFFICE MARKET OVERVIEW

The National Capital Region (NCR) includes Delhi and several districts in the adjoining states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. From a commercial real estate standpoint, Delhi-NCR (or, simply NCR) currently comprises Delhi, Gurugram and NOIDA1. Whereas New Delhi (or Delhi) is a historic city with large organic as well as planned precincts, Gurugram (in the state of Haryana) and NOIDA (in Uttar Pradesh) are relatively recent and planned urban developments. Delhi-NCR has consistently featured among the top-ranked office markets in India. Except for 2020, the year of stringent lockdowns, Delhi-NCR has contributed almost one-fifth of all India office space demand in the each of the last four to five years.