India's Q-Commerce to Need 75 Million Sq. Ft. of Logistics Space by 2030

India's quick-commerce (Q-commerce) sector will need roughly 75 million sq. ft. of urban logistics space by 2030, according to a new report from CBRE South Asia. That is nearly triple the roughly 27 million sq. ft. the sector occupies today across more than 100 cities.

The projection splits into 42 million sq. ft. for dark stores (small urban warehouses closed to shoppers, used solely to fulfil rapid orders) and 33 million sq. ft. for larger mother hubs. The report expects dark store numbers to climb from about 7,800 in 2026 to more than 12,000 by 2030.

For apparel and lifestyle brands weighing rapid-delivery channels, the numbers signal a real estate cost base that is expanding faster than almost any other logistics segment.

How fast is demand growing?

Q-commerce warehousing demand grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 81% between 2021 and 2025. Annual space take-up rose from 3.1 million sq. ft. in 2024 to 4.3 million sq. ft. in 2025. That still represented only 4–5% of total logistics leasing across India during the period.

An 81% CAGR over four years is exceptional. A caveat follows: it measures space take-up from a near-zero base, so percentage gains overstate the sector's absolute footprint. Q-commerce remains a small slice of Indian logistics real estate.

Which markets dominate?

Geographic concentration is pronounced. Between 2021 and the first half of 2026:

• Delhi-NCR took 21% of Q-commerce leasing
• Mumbai took 20%
• Bengaluru took 17%
• Hyderabad took 16%
• Chennai took 11%

The top three markets together accounted for nearly 60% of all Q-commerce leasing in the period. Currently, 65–70% of dark stores sit in the top eight markets.

Operators are also pushing into Jaipur, Lucknow, Surat, Coimbatore and Nagpur as networks extend beyond major metropolitan areas. This spread matters for brands: second-tier city entry requires new vendor agreements and delivery compliance checks, not just a metro extension.

What drives the network design?

The report outlines the operating logic. Mother hubs measuring 100,000–125,000 sq. ft. typically serve 30–50 dark stores each, moving inventory across local fulfilment networks. That hub-and-spoke structure fixes the ratio of large warehouse space to frontline dark store space, and it explains why 33 million sq. ft. of hub capacity accompanies the 42 million sq. ft. of dark store demand.

What are the cost pressures?

CBRE flags three constraints: high rental costs, limited space availability and zoning regulations. The report suggests these pressures could push operators toward shared and purpose-built fulfilment infrastructure to manage real estate requirements.

That is a projection, not a confirmed shift. No operator commitments, shared-facility deals or timelines appear in the report. Shared infrastructure would raise questions the report leaves unanswered: who holds the lease, how inventory is segregated, and who bears compliance liability in a multi-operator dark store.

What should sourcing teams watch?

For supply-chain professionals, the 2030 figure implies sustained competition for small-format urban warehousing in the top eight markets, with rental escalation likely where zoning restricts supply. Brands planning Q-commerce distribution should model dark store slotting fees and lead times against the 30–50 store catchment per mother hub.

If the 12,000-dark-store projection holds, second-tier cities such as Jaipur and Coimbatore will move from optional to standard in Q-commerce channel plans before the decade ends.