Cognizant Leases Over 6.45 Lakh Sq Ft in Chennai for Five Years

Cognizant Technology Solutions India has leased 645,172 square feet of commercial space in Chennai for a five-year term, with a monthly rent of ₹4.77 crore. Transaction documents accessed by Propstack indicate the IT major will pay ₹74 per square foot for this chargeable area. The leased space spans from the ground to the ninth floor of Tower 3 at Embassy Splendid TechZone Block 1, an office park situated in Chennai’s Pallavaram locality. The agreement includes a 15 percent rent escalation every three years.

This new lease follows other recent real estate activities by Cognizant. In September, the company signed a lease agreement for 141,392 sq ft with flexible workspace operator WeWork India, also located in the Pallavaram-based office park on Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Road. Additionally, in 2025, Cognizant renewed its office lease at Mindspace Business Parks in Navi Mumbai, securing 92,208 sq ft for five years at a monthly rent of ₹62,70,144.

The deal reflects a dynamic period in India’s real estate market, which is experiencing record office absorption. A report by Anarock Research & Advisory noted that net absorption reached 49.2 million square feet in the first nine months of 2026, marking a 2 percent year-on-year growth from 48.2 msf in the same period last year. Notably, co-working spaces have surpassed information technology and IT-enabled services as the largest office occupiers for the first time in a nine-month period. Knight Frank India also reported stable office leasing across eight key markets, totaling 66.7 million square feet in the first nine months of 2026, mirroring previous year levels.

What to watch: Continued expansion by IT firms in key Indian real estate markets.

Editor's note: The article provides a precise and well-structured summary of the lease agreement and broader market context using the provided source material.