E-Paper
Manufacturing firms top finance as office guzzlers
In a fresh indication of the growing importance of manufacturing in the country's economic growth, the sector has overtaken banking and financial services in terms of new office space requirement during the last fiscal year. Vivek Sinha reports. Office Office: the smokestack guys are back
In a fresh indication of the growing importance of manufacturing in the country's economic growth, the sector has overtaken banking and financial services in terms of new office space requirement during the last fiscal year. Manufacturing includes pharmaceuticals, consumer durables, engineering and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) firms under its ambit.
The manufacturing sector accounted for 19% of the newly-constructed office space leased out during 2011-12, up from 13% during 2010-11, data available with real estate consultancy Knight Frank has said. Office space taken up by BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) dropped to 8% in 2011-12 from 13% in 2010-11.
The IT and ITeS sectors continue to garner the lion's share in the quantum of new office space leased out, though they too witnessed a fall in their share to 52% in 2011-12 from 57% in 2010-11.
And, aided by the government's new manufacturing policy, the demand for new office space from the sector will only increase in the coming months, analysts said.
"I am bullish about the manufacturing sector in the current fiscal year," Samantak Das, national head, research, Knight Frank told HT.
"With the central government's focus on increasing the share of manufacturing sector in India's GDP, we are likely to see good tractions in this sector," he added.
The new manufacturing policy would also provide the much-needed boost to the sector, said Das. "The BFSI and IT/ITeS are already at a higher base as far as office space transactions are concerned."
During 2010-11, a total of 38 million square feet of new space was constructed in the top seven cities, while it was 37 million square feet during 2011-12.
