India's fast-expanding quick commerce sector is projected to require nearly 75 million square feet of urban logistics space by 2030, driven by the proliferation of dark stores and large-scale warehousing infrastructure, according to a report by CBRE South Asia released on Monday, 26 October 2026. The figure underscores how the race to deliver groceries and essentials within minutes is fundamentally redrawing India's real estate map.

The Demand Breakdown

The CBRE report estimates the sector will need approximately 42 million square feet of in-city dark stores and an additional 33 million square feet of mother hubs by the end of the decade. Mother hubs are large warehouses — typically situated on city outskirts — that stock bulk inventory and replenish multiple dark stores through a hub-and-spoke distribution model.

India's quick commerce ecosystem has already scaled to around 7,800 dark stores in 2026, currently occupying nearly 27 million square feet of logistics space across more than 100 cities. That number is expected to exceed 12,000 dark stores by 2030.

Explosive Growth in Warehousing Demand

Quick commerce-linked warehousing demand recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 81 per cent between 2021 and 2025 — accounting for roughly 4–5 per cent of total logistics leasing activity across India during that period. Annual space absorption tied to the segment climbed from 3.1 million square feet in 2024 to 4.3 million square feet in 2025.

City-Wise Market Share

Geographically, Delhi-NCR emerged as the dominant market, accounting for 21 per cent of total quick commerce warehousing demand between 2021 and the first half of 2026. Mumbai followed closely at 20 per cent, with Bengaluru at 17 per cent, Hyderabad at 16 per cent, and Chennai at 11 per cent. Notably, around 65–70 per cent of the existing dark-store network remains concentrated in the country's top eight metropolitan markets, even as operators push into tier-II and tier-III cities.

What Industry Leaders Are Saying

Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO for India, South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa at CBRE, said: 'Quick commerce is reshaping how consumption and urban logistics intersect in India, and real estate sits at the heart of this shift.' He added that as platforms transition 'from capital-heavy expansion to a more disciplined growth cycle, the focus is moving from simply adding stores to building dense, efficient and well-located fulfilment networks,' which he said will 'create a substantial real estate opportunity across in-city locations and city peripheries.'

What Comes Next

CBRE noted that the sector's long-term growth will hinge on the creation of compliant, strategically located and future-ready fulfilment assets capable of supporting evolving operational requirements across both metropolitan and emerging urban markets. This comes amid broader investor scrutiny of quick commerce unit economics, making the shift toward efficient, well-sited infrastructure all the more critical for sustained profitability.