India Climbs to 26th Globally in JLL Real Estate Transparency Index

India has climbed five positions to rank 26th globally in the 2026 JLL Global Real Estate Transparency Index, entering the middle of the Transparent tier. The biennial index evaluates 88 countries and 146 city markets across 260 parameters. According to real estate consulting firm JLL, India emerged as the top improver across the Asia-Pacific region, driven by regulatory maturity, foreign direct investment liberalisation, and the expansion of digital land registries.

The five-position jump from 31st place in 2024 coincides with record institutional capital inflows into Indian property markets. Private equity real estate investments reached $10.5 billion in 2025, marking a 17 per cent year-on-year increase, while inflows for the first half of 2026 stood at $4.3 billion. Radha Dhir, Chief Executive Officer for India at JLL, stated that the country's trajectory over the past decade positions it to move towards the Highly Transparent tier.

The most substantial improvement occurred in the regulatory and legal parameter, where India advanced from 37th to 19th globally and from ninth to sixth in Asia-Pacific. JLL attributed this progress to the maturation of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority framework alongside digital land record initiatives including the National Urban Digital Mission, NAKSHA, and the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme.

Simultaneously, India maintained a strong position in the transaction process parameter, ranking 10th globally and third in Asia-Pacific. Greater availability of commercial real estate financing data and expanding institutional participation reinforced transaction transparency.

India's listed real estate market recorded incremental maturity, with its global ranking shifting from 36th to 35th. Office real estate investment trust stock expanded by 58 per cent from 104 million square feet in 2024 to 164 million square feet in 2026. JLL reported that REIT-worthy assets now account for approximately 46 per cent of India's total Grade A office inventory.

Market participants increasingly rely on benchmarks such as the BSE Realty Index and the India REIT Index to evaluate listed entity performance. Lata Pillai, Senior Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets for India at JLL, noted that the record direct investments reflect foundational market strengthening rather than a temporary peak.

India's global sustainability ranking advanced from 29th to 27th, while maintaining seventh position in Asia-Pacific. The progress was supported by SEBI's Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report framework for major listed entities and the launch of the National Green Building Mission.

Green-certified Grade A office stock rose sharply from 39 per cent in 2020 to 66 per cent by the first half of 2026. Certified commercial properties command a 10 to 15 per cent rental premium over non-certified equivalents after adjusting for property type, location, and age cohort. However, JLL noted ongoing reporting gaps regarding Scope 3 emissions, property-level energy disclosures, climate-risk planning, and biodiversity standards.

Alternative real estate asset classes, particularly data centres, have become central to India's commercial expansion. Total inventory reached 1,637 megawatts by mid-2026 with a vacancy rate of 2.8 per cent, while an additional 4,317 megawatts remained under construction against a planned pipeline of 15,000 megawatts.

JLL projects that total data centre capacity will expand from 1.6 gigawatts to 6 gigawatts by 2029, necessitating approximately $110 billion in capital expenditure. Global hyperscalers have committed more than $50 billion toward artificial intelligence-ready facilities, with self-build projects representing nearly 30 per cent of new capacity.

To bridge the remaining transparency gap, JLL outlined four pathways for further progress: deepening performance disclosures across fund structures, improving credit-market intelligence, establishing verified real-time building performance metrics, and deploying artificial intelligence to streamline due diligence.