OVERVIEW

India’s growth has been remarkable in recent few years, at a time when tensions and inflationary issues have scarred the global economic landscape. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has played its role assertively in difficult times hiking the benchmark lending rate by 25 bps when needed, and then keeping it stable over the last 15 months. This blend of caution and optimism seems to have facilitated a robust growth of GDP at 7.0% and 8.2% in FY2023 and FY2024 respectively.

Leading economic indicators suggest that the momentum is likely to continue owing to a mix of factors including impetus in infrastructure, manufacturing and defence sectors. S&P Global’s recent affirmation of India’s ‘BBB-/A-3’ sovereign credit ratings, along with an upgraded positive outlook which bodes well for the economy.

BENGALURU’S OFFICE MARKET

Bengaluru is one of the world’s pre-eminent technology hubs. It accounted for 1.9%1 of India’s GDP in 2023. Leading ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’ – the digital revolution – the city creates opportunities for professionals, resulting in migrations from across the country. This has made Bengaluru the multicultural and cosmopolitan urban centre that it is today. It is one of India’s biggest urban agglomerations with an estimated population of 12.6 million in 2021 and is expected to reach 17 million by 2036 (CAGR of 2%)2. Almost 40% of India’s biotech companies are based in Bengaluru.

Manufacturing, Research & Development, and several other industries including automobiles, electrical & electronics, as well as aerospace & defense contribute significantly to the city’s economy. Numerous Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are headquartered in Bengaluru. And, of course, it is home to countless unicorns and startups, including Ola, Swiggy, Zerodha, Meesho, Razorpay, BYJU’S and CRED.