The Development of Corporate Real Estate Practices in India: A Survey of CRE Professionals

Business process outsourcing (BPO) is transforming Western companies’ corporate real estate (CRE) requirements. When business processes move to a developing country there are consequences for that country’s CRE practice. This paper considers the effects of western BPO on Indian CRE. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was used to analyze data from a survey of professionals operating in Indian CRE. Location issues, quality of workspace, and the availability of human resources were identified as important in establishing BPO activities in India. Suburban, and campus or built-to-suit facilities, were increasingly preferred locations and styles of workplace that were transforming Indian CRE practice. Also, the effect of western BPO was impacting on the types of CRE services being offered. With the continuing growth in BPO to ‘secondary cities’ the transformational effects on local CRE practice are likely to spread and further transform CRE practice in India.