Despite rising commodity costs and global inflationary pressures, consumer demand has fueled a rapid double-digit V-shaped recovery in the storage sector. According to experts, demand will even reach its all-time high by the end of the year.

In the first three quarters of this calendar year, there was an all-time record of 28 million square feet of storage space. In comparison, net take-up declined 12 million square feet during the pandemic year from pre-pandemic levels.

“In 2019, there was an annual growth rate of 48 percent with a net absorption of about 25 million square feet, while in the pandemic year 2020, net absorption fell to 13 million square feet in the first three quarters,” said Chandranath Dey, head of Operations, Logistics & Industrial, JLL India.

In the first nine months of this calendar year, however, the sector grew by 45 percent. Also, net absorption could reach an all-time high of 43 million square feet by the end of 2022 as businesses open up and consumer demand improves, he added.

With the integration of technology and digitalization, it has become much easier to maintain these facilities and streamline operations, which has caused a boom in the entire logistics industry, said Harsh V Bansal, Convenor, CII Delhi Subcommittee on Real Estate, Urban Development and Infrastructure.