Bangalore leads in IT race in India

Forward by Kalyani

Bangalore continues to be the number one destination for IT/ITeS companies in the country.

For all those who thought Chennai and Hyderabad were eating into Bangalore's status as the IT capital of India, here are some facts.

The annual year-end report by global real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield shows that Bangalore witnessed the highest commercial space absorption in the country of 10.4 million sqft - the highest in the country for the fifth consecutive year. Of that, IT and ITeS companies absorbed 88%, followed by automotive, telecommunications and other sectors.

Leading the way was i-Flex Solution, which absorbed 1,100,000 sqft of commercial space in Whitefield, followed by 350,000 sqft of space each by ABB and ANZ IT in Whitefield and the Marathalli-Sarjapur belt.

Chennai absorbed only 4.1 million sqft of commercial space of the 9.8 million sqft of supply this year, as against its absorption of 6.5 million sqft of space in 2007.

Hyderabad witnessed a whopping 67% drop in commercial space absorption -- from last year's figure of 4 million sqft to only 1.3 million sqft this year. The total supply in the city amounted to nearly 3.8 million sqft.

Mumbai and the National Capital Region (NCR) absorbed 8.5 million sqft and 8.6 million sqft of commercial space in 2008 respectively.

"Bangalore & Mumbai were the only two cities that showed an increase in absorption from last year," reads the C&W report. Meanwhile, commercial rental rates in Bangalore appreciated between 4% and 9% in the peripheral areas and by a whopping 18% in the central business districts.