Office Renovation Cost in India: Per Sq Ft Ranges, Line Items and What to Budget in 2026

Cushman & Wakefield's 2026 guide prices a new office fit-out in Delhi at ₹6,207 per sq ft for a collaborative hybrid workplace and a retrofit at ₹5,305 per sq ft, at December 2025 prices. Colliers puts a Class A fit-out in Delhi at ₹3,500 to ₹5,000 per sq ft. A partial renovation costs only the lines you touch, which JLL splits into five, from builders' works at 38% to fees at 7%. One partial scenario can cost as much as starting over at a lower specification.

The fit-out figures price a full interior build, not a repaint. Cushman & Wakefield's guide publishes its fit-out, retrofit and reinstatement figures for eight Indian cities in rupees, though the pages we checked do not define what a retrofit includes. The ₹6,207 Delhi fit-out figure is C&W's medium, collaborative tier, not the top of the range: the advanced tier in Delhi is US$135 per sq ft against US$69, about double. Price anything lighter than a strip-out line by line. AIHP's business is renting managed office space in Gurgaon, so its view on moving instead of renovating is not neutral. For a new fit-out in Gurgaon, the fit-out cost guide has more detail.

What the 2026 benchmarks measure

Each firm publishes these figures in rupees per sq ft, and we have converted no currency. Cushman & Wakefield's are averages at December 2025 prices; it publishes its basic and advanced tiers in US dollars only, so this table leaves them out. Colliers' range covers design, construction, furniture, fixtures and equipment, and its page is undated. Neither firm says whether its Delhi figures include Gurugram; where a report says Delhi NCR, it usually covers Delhi, Gurugram, Noida and Faridabad. Knight Frank's 2026 guide reports India in US dollars per sq m, as Q4 2025 averages: $264 at basic, $449 at mid-spec in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR, and $838, or ₹75,312, at high spec.

Cushman & Wakefield prices a collaborative hybrid workplace at ₹6,207 per sq ft in Delhi and between ₹5,847 and ₹6,567 across India's major cities. Delhi's figure is about 5.5% below Mumbai's ₹6,567. C&W's collaborative tier assumes meeting space on about 10 to 20% of the floor, part single-glazed partitions and several data points at each desk. Colliers' Class A range is lower, and the two firms define a fit-out differently, so pick one guide and one tier and stay with it when you compare quotes. JLL adds a caution: India's low dollar costs are partly currency movement, not cheaper inputs.

Where a renovation budget goes

Shares are JLL's Asia Pacific averages from its 2026 guide, and India's mix will differ. The rupee column is our arithmetic: those shares applied to Cushman & Wakefield's ₹6,207 Delhi figure, rounded to the nearest ₹10. Neither source publishes these amounts. As a check, Colliers puts Class A furniture in Delhi at ₹500 to ₹800 per sq ft, below the ₹870 here.

A renovation is the sum of the lines you touch. Furniture and technology together take about 30% of a typical budget, so a refresh that touches only those lines costs a fraction of a rebuild. JLL adds that their prices depend on specification, import dependence and technology supply chains. Builders' works is the biggest line and the one most exposed to local competition, since JLL says contractors compress margins in less active markets.

Pricing a partial renovation, with a 10,000 sq ft example

This is our arithmetic: JLL's shares applied to Cushman & Wakefield's ₹6,207 Delhi figure for a collaborative hybrid workplace. It is an illustration, not a quote, and it assumes India's cost mix resembles JLL's regional one. At C&W's own retrofit figure of ₹5,305 per sq ft, the same 10,000 sq ft would cost about ₹5.3 crore.

The re-layout row is the surprising one. If JLL's mix holds, re-laying a floor without touching air conditioning or power costs about ₹3,660 per sq ft, or 59% of a new collaborative fit-out. Cushman & Wakefield prices a basic fit-out in Delhi at US$37 per sq ft against US$69 for collaborative, about 54%, so on these figures the re-layout costs a little more than starting over at a basic specification. C&W's retrofit figure points the same way: ₹5,305 per sq ft, about 85% of its new fit-out. Which is better value depends on how long you stay and the condition of the existing systems. We would check the whole table against an itemised quote before acting on it.

How to read a contractor's quote

A quote that arrives as one number tells you nothing. Ask for the five lines, then set each against the shares above. Three checks are worth making.

JLL's shares are regional averages, so none of them is a rule, but a line that is far off deserves a reason in writing.

Costs that arrive after the invoice

If you rent, your landlord may require the floor back in its original state. Cushman & Wakefield puts the average reinstatement cost in Delhi at ₹807 per sq ft, or about ₹81 lakh on 10,000 sq ft. Knight Frank's 2026 guide gives a lower India figure, about US$30 per sq m, so treat either as a rough guide. Colliers notes that in Delhi, reinstatement applies only if it was discussed in the initial lease. The cost arrives when you leave, and your lease decides your real figure, so ask the landlord in writing what must be reinstated.

Prices are also drifting up. Knight Frank expects fit-out costs to rise 2 to 5% over twelve months, and JLL reports the same range in local-currency terms. In Cushman & Wakefield's contractor survey for India, 77% of respondents expect their own pricing to rise slightly over the next six months. For labour costs, 61% expect a slight rise and almost a quarter expect a significant one. JLL flags shortages of electricians, air-conditioning specialists and mechanical and electrical installers across Asia Pacific, India included. Those are the trades a systems upgrade needs.

Sustainability rules are lifting the baseline as well. Knight Frank says green building certifications, energy monitoring and tighter material compliance are raising baseline fit-out costs across Asia Pacific. JLL says sustainable fit-outs are becoming a baseline expectation for Grade A space, and that managing the "green premium" means involving sustainability experts early. If your building is Grade A, ask what certification the landlord expects before any contractor prices the job.

The delivery model changes the programme. Knight Frank estimates that design-and-build delivery compresses project timelines by 20 to 30% compared with sequential delivery. In the same Cushman & Wakefield survey, 61% of Indian contractors expect lead times to stay neutral over the next six months, and about a third expect a slight increase.

Renovate or move

Renovate if the lease has years left and the work is a refresh. Compare a move if the scope reaches a full rebuild, or if the lease ends within a few years, because capital spent on a rebuild stays behind when you leave. On 10,000 sq ft, Cushman & Wakefield's Delhi figures come to about ₹6.2 crore for a new collaborative fit-out and ₹5.3 crore for a retrofit.

Spread the cost over the years you will use it. On a straight-line basis, before financing cost, a ₹3.7 crore re-layout on 10,000 sq ft costs about ₹1.2 crore a year if the lease has three years left. With eight years left, it is about ₹46 lakh a year. The ₹6.2 crore full rebuild is about ₹2.1 crore a year over three years.

A managed office carries the fit-out inside the monthly fee. AIHP's managed offices start at 20 seats, with zero upfront capex and a 60-day move-in. Three Gurgaon expansions include a move from an 85-seat suite to 200-plus seats with the fit-out absorbed into the agreement. Below 20 seats AIHP is not an option, so renovating, or a different kind of rented space, is the realistic route.

Budget rules

• Ask every contractor to price the five lines separately, on the same specification, so the quotes can be compared.
• Add reinstatement if you rent.
• Book electricians and air-conditioning contractors early, since JLL flags both trades as short.
• Ask whether design-and-build delivery suits your project, since it can shorten the programme.

Read the Daas Labs case study How a team moved from 85 to 200-plus seats with the fit-out absorbed into a managed services agreement. Read the case study

Talk to AIHP about moving instead of renovating

If your renovation quote is heading past a few crore, or your lease has only a few years left, send your headcount and move-in date through the contact page or to leasing@aihp.in. AIHP starts at 20 seats.