Hong-Kong based global flexible workspace provider, The Executive Centre, has earmarked an investment of ₹125 crore to add eight new centres to its portfolio in India during the ongoing calendar year.
According to the company statement, released on October 16, these centres are set to come up in Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Gurugram and New Delhi.
The eight centres, three of which are operational thus far, will collectively add 2.6 lakh square feet to the flexible office operator’s tally to take its overall footprint to around 1.5 million square feet in India, senior executives of the company said during an interaction with HT.com.
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“Currently, with all this expansion we should be close to around 1.5 million square feet. Our target is to double the overall footprint in the next 30-36 months,” said Manish Khedia, who is the managing director for west and south India, alongside Sri Lanka, at The Executive Centre.
The company statement said that The Executive Centre has set aside ₹47 crore for three centres spanning a total of 1.12 lakh square feet across key southern markets. This includes one facility each in Chennai’s RMZ One Paramount, Hyderabad’s RMZ Nexity and Raheja Cignus in Bengaluru.
In Mumbai, the company is investing around ₹33 crore across 59,000 square feet at First International Financial Center and One BKC. Meanwhile in North India, the commercial realty player is infusing over ₹42 crore to lease 96,000 square feet of office space at DLF Cyber City in Gurugram, and Aerocity in New Delhi.
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The expansion will be funded entirely through internal accruals, company officials said.
The Executive Centre, which is set to complete 30 years of operations this year, provides premium workspace solutions – within the range of 1-500 workstations – typically for a minimum lease period of 18-24 months. Presently, about 70% of the brand’s tenant mix comprises IT/ITeS companies.
“We’re still at a nascent stage for GCC’s market cap which should be in the range of 5-10% of our overall business, but we expect this number to grow substantially in the next three years because GCCs are phenomenally increasing their demand, especially for the India market,” said Khedia.
The Executive Centre, which sees a 75:25 split between global and Indian firms in its clientele, has an average occupancy rate of 92% presently in India.
India overtakes China to secure top spot in 2024
Senior executives of the company said that The Executive Centre is anticipating a 17-20% growth in business – revenue and profits – this year. Presently India contributes a 24% share to the company’s overall profits.
In the last financial year, which coincides with the calendar year for the global company, revenue jumped 31% to ₹475 crore while profit grew by 35% to ₹159 crore, driven by expansion on account of increasing demand for flexible workspace.
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“We (India) have taken over China in 2024 and India, South East Asia and the Middle East have become our top three markets in terms of growth. The growth will continue in 2025-26 and that is why the capex deployment globally, we’re putting in the top 3-4 markets,” said Rajat Kapur, Managing Director – North India, UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, The Executive Centre.
“In terms of EBITDA, India is the top performing cluster right now. In terms of revenue, India is yet to catch up (owing to dollar/renminbi conversion), but in terms of absolute profits, India is the biggest cluster in the TEC network,” Khedia elaborated.
The Executive Centre operates more than 220 centres in 36 cities across 16 countries. In India, the company has a portfolio of 13 lakh square feet of workspace comprising around 12,500 desks across 50 centres.
