Leasing of industrial space for light manufacturing activities rose 23 per cent last year to 15.9 million square feet across eight major cities due to favourable government policies, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The leasing of industrial space stood at 12.91 million square feet in the calendar year 2022. Real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) on Thursday released its annual Logistics and Industrial report (L&I) report, which showed that Pune and Chennai accounted for 53 per cent and 24 per cent of the total leasing of industrial space in 2023 across eight major cities. "The growth in industrial leasing indicates that manufacturing is on an uptrend on the back of healthy capacity utilization, implementation of business plans by domestic firms and incentivization of investments by multinationals through favourable government policies such as the multi-sector PLI scheme," the consultant said. Industrial sheds available for lease primarily cater to light ...