By:–  Amit Shetty, CEO, Embassy REIT

2025 has marked a pivotal year for India’s REIT sector and the broader commercial real estate market. The Indian office market is on the cusp of crossing one billion square feet of institutional-grade stock, reflecting the depth, scale and global relevance the sector has achieved. This demand has been led by Global Capability Centres, technology-driven enterprises and multinational companies who are increasingly consolidating into large, integrated, high-quality, future-ready office campuses.

 We witnessed two key trends in 2025: mid-tier firms setting up their GCCs in India, while large established GCCs continued to consolidate and expand their footprint. At the same time, the renewed focus on return-to-office among leading IT/ITeS and global firms has supported stronger absorption and larger space take-ups.

 The year also witnessed meaningful deepening of investor confidence in the REIT sector. Progressive regulatory developments, including the classification of REITs as equity instruments, have broadened participation and improved liquidity. With investors increasingly seeking yield-accretive and inflation-protected assets, India’s REITs are emerging as a sophisticated gateway to the country’s commercial real estate story. The strong leasing cycle, improving occupancies and disciplined balance sheet management across the industry have further reinforced REITs as a compelling asset class. We are seeing this reflect in our performance as well – we have delivered over 25% total returns to investors over the past 12 months and are guiding towards a 10% growth in distributions in FY26.  

 Looking ahead, the outlook for India’s office and REIT industry remains decisively positive. REITs will continue to play a central role in channelising long-term capital into high-quality commercial real estate, powering economic growth while delivering sustainable value for stakeholders