Bengaluru: Google has leased 649,000 sq ft office space at Alembic City in Whitefi- eld, Bengaluru, at a monthly rental of ₹62 per sq ft for a three-year lock-in period as part of its expansion strategy in India, said people aware of the deal.

“This move is in line with the tech giant’s proactive approach to leasing both traditional and flexible office spaces in major cities to strengthen its presence,” one of the persons said.

In 2022, Google Connect Services India, a subsidiary of the US technology cong- lomerate, had a renewed rental pact for about 600,000 sq ft office space in Hydera bad. The company also agreed with Bagmane Developers to lease 1.3 million sq ft office space in Bangalore.

“Since 2020, Google’s office space portfolio in India has increased by 3.5 million sq ft,” another person said. “The firm has a presence in five cities in India spread over 9.3 million sq ft of real estate footprint,” he said.

Google didn’t respond to ET’s queries.

The company has lined up significant investments in the Indian market. This includes plans to manufacture smartp- hones at a Foxconn facility in Tamil Nadu and starting independent drone manufacturing in the state.

Google aims to start production of Pixel smartphones in India, starting with the Pixel 8 model. Reports also suggest that the company is relocating some roles to India, a rapidly growing market.

“India is a priority market for Pixel smartphones, and we’re committed to bringing the best of our hardware and underlying built-in software capabilities to people across the country,” Google said in a blog post earlier this month.

India’s office market is poised to wit- ness robust absorption this year with major IT firms resuming offline work after the pandemic.

Source- The Economic Times