India's flexible office market seen at 160 million sq ft by 2030; Pune and Chennai add capacity

India's flexible office market is likely to reach 160 million sq ft by 2030, according to a report covered by IANS this week — a projection that would more than double the sector's current footprint and underlines how far flex space has moved into the mainstream of office leasing.

City-level data supports the trend. In Pune, 20,900 flex seats were leased in the first half of 2026, a 28% jump over the same period in 2025, driven by IT, engineering, BFSI and global capability centres, according to Cushman & Wakefield data reported by The Times of India. JLL estimates flex operators have leased over 7 million sq ft in Pune since 2024 — about 30% of the city's overall leasing — making it India's third-largest flex market at 15 million sq ft.

Operators continue to add capacity. COWRKS opened its fourth Chennai workspace this week — a 50,000 sq ft, 650-desk centre at Millenia Business Park — while Awfis said it plans to add 22,000–25,000 seats across its network, with Pune a meaningful part of that expansion.

CBRE data cited by Flex Insights shows office absorption of 66.4 million sq ft in the first nine months of 2026, with flexible workspace operators accounting for 24% of leasing activity in the third quarter — and managed offices increasingly targeting enterprise leasing beyond traditional coworking.