Where demand is concentrated
For the full 2023-2026 period, Colliers estimates that sustainable properties will attract about 210 million square feet of leasing out of a market total of nearly 275 million square feet, or roughly three-fourths of demand.
Bengaluru leads in leasing volume: the report puts its uptake of sustainable office space during that period at 59 million square feet, representing 28% of the seven-market total. Delhi NCR leads by share, with sustainable buildings accounting for 85-90% of its office leasing. Hyderabad follows at 80-85%.
The cities' certified office inventories show a similar ranking by size. Anarock Research data for the first half of 2025 placed Bengaluru first among the top seven cities, with about 163 million square feet of green-certified Grade A space, roughly 73% of its Grade A inventory. Delhi NCR ranked second with about 97 million square feet, or 62% of its 157 million square feet.
Technology companies account for 30-35% of leasing in sustainable offices, according to Colliers, which says nearly 80% of technology-sector occupiers prefer buildings with certifications such as LEED and GRIHA. Banking, financial services and insurance firms represent another 20-25% of sustainable-space leasing, while engineering and manufacturing companies account for 15-20%.
Rents and the expanding supply
Certified offices also command higher rents in some markets. Anarock Research found that average monthly rents for green-certified offices across the top seven cities were up to 24% above those for regular Grade A space in the first half of 2025. In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the respective rents were about INR 177 and INR 143 per square foot per month. Vacancy stood at 14% in green buildings, compared with 16.30% in non-green Grade A properties.
Colliers expects developers to add 45-50 million square feet of sustainable office space in 2026, accounting for 75-80% of new supply. It estimates the existing sustainable inventory at 600-650 million square feet and says it could approach 800 million square feet over the next two to three years.
An earlier Colliers India office outlook, published March 17, 2026, put green-certified inventory at around 574 million square feet as of 2025, nearly two-thirds of India's overall office stock. That outlook forecast a nationwide certified share of 70-75% in 2026.
Older properties offer a separate investment opportunity. In the March outlook, Vimal Nadar, Colliers India's national director and head of research, estimated that more than 420 million square feet of Indian offices over 10 years old could be retrofitted, representing an investment opportunity exceeding INR 500 billion.
Certification growth and incentives
The certifications cited by Colliers include LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design; IGBC, the Indian Green Building Council; and GRIHA, the Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment. These systems evaluate factors such as energy use, water conservation, resource efficiency and environmental impact. The buildings are designed to use resources more efficiently, reduce environmental harm and improve workplace quality.
India moved from third to second place in the US Green Building Council's 2025 LEED ranking of countries and regions outside the United States. Its certified area reached 16,111,512 gross square meters across 611 projects in calendar 2025, compared with 8.50 million gross square meters across 370 projects in 2024.
IGBC reported more than 20,458 registered green building projects covering over 16.48 billion square feet as of October 1, 2026. More than 8,450 of those projects were certified and fully operational.
Haryana offers additional floor area ratio for projects with IGBC ratings. An amendment to Chapter 6 of the Haryana Building Code 2017, made May 8, 2018, grants an additional 9% for Silver-rated projects, 12% for Gold and 15% for Platinum, according to IGBC's register of government incentives.
Energy performance is not the same as net-zero
A comparative assessment published in Discover Civil Engineering and reported October 29, 2026, measured annual energy use intensity at 185.02 kWh per square meter in a LEED-certified office in Noida. A comparable non-LEED office in Delhi recorded 271.03 kWh per square meter per year, a 31.7% difference under the conditions observed.
The assessment nevertheless concluded that neither LEED nor IGBC, in their current forms, is designed to deliver truly net-zero buildings. It identified reliance on design-stage assessment, optional monitoring after occupancy and the lack of a requirement for on-site renewable generation.
