India’s Flex Space Market to Reach $9–10 billion by 2028, Fueled by GCC Growth: Smartworks – UnearthIQ Report
GCCs will drive 200 million sq. ft. of office demand by 2030, with flex spaces capturing nearly half.
Smartworks Coworking Spaces Limited ( “Smartworks”), India’s largest managed office platform by area under management, today announced the release of a new joint report with UnearthIQ, titled “India’s Next Commercial Real Estate Wave: The Rise of Flex Spaces Fueled by GCC Growth.” UnearthIQ is a practitioner-led insights and advisory firm helping organizations build, scale, and optimize their Global Capability Centers (GCCs).
The report examines the structural shifts underway in India’s commercial real estate market and highlights how the rapid expansion of Global Capability Centers (GCCs) is accelerating demand for flexible and managed workspaces across Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities.
India’s flex space industry is entering a hyper-growth phase, projected to surge to $9–10 billion by 2028, propelled by the rapid expansion of Global Capability Centers (GCCs), the report finds. The flex space market currently is valued at $3-4 billion.
As GCCs gear up to require 160–200 million sq. ft. of office space by 2030, the study finds that flex workspaces will capture 65–80 million sq. ft. of this demand, reflecting a decisive enterprise shift toward asset-light, Opex-led models. This transition is reinforced by footprint shifts toward talent hubs and the growing mid-tier IT demand for agile, scalable workspaces.
India’s 1,850+ GCCs employ nearly 2.2 million professionals and are expanding rapidly, adding 80,000–120,000 seats annually and creating a $170–254 million yearly opportunity for workspace operators.
“GCCs are no longer looking for just offices – they’re seeking scalable, intelligent, experience-first environments that help them innovate faster and operate globally. Smartworks is deeply committed to enabling this transformation across Tier-1 and Tier-2 markets through our platform SmartVantage, which is purpose-built to support GCCs from setup to scale,” said Harsh Binani, Co-Founder, Smartworks.
Gaurav Vasu, Co-Founder & CEO & Shail Maniar, Co-Founder & GCC Practitioner, UnearthIQ said, “The real inflection point for GCCs has been recognizing that success depends more on experience-first workplaces than traditional infrastructure models. Flex operators who can combine scale with technology, near-shore reach, and end-to-end enablement will define the next decade of GCC growth.”
At large, India’s commercial real estate market size by economic activity, valued at $50–60 billion and the fourth-largest globally, is on course to reach $120–130 billion by 2030, fueled by demand for Grade A offices, e-commerce warehousing, institutional capital inflows, and policy catalysts like the Registration Bill 2025. The $22–26 billion office segment, which forms 40–50% of the total market, is being reshaped by GCC and IT/ITeS growth, hybrid work models, and Tier-2 expansion. Within this shift, branded flex spaces have emerged as the fastest-growing category, rapidly outpacing traditional offices.
Flex space operators are rapidly evolving from pure workspace providers into end-to-end GCC-as-a-Service partners, offering a unified stack of solutions that includes fit-outs, talent support, compliance, and operational enablement. By consolidating these value-added services under one platform, they simplify setup, accelerate scale, and elevate the overall workspace experience for enterprises.
