How climate stress impacts corporate real-estate assets

India's corporate skyline has expanded rapidly over the past three decades.

- SOUMYA SARKAR

Tech campuses in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, logistics parks along the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor and multiple warehouse clusters on city outskirts reflect a country building the infrastructure of a modern economy. Yet, much of this expansion has been planned around connectivity, labour access and land prices. Climate risk has rarely figured in the blueprint.That omission is becoming harder to ignore. Floods, extreme heat and infrastructure breakdowns are increasingly shaping the reliability and value of corporate real estate. The 2015 Chennai floods offered a stark illustration, causing industrial property losses estimated at around 14,600 crore, according to a report on building climate resilience for Indian industry. Events like these are not isolated shocks. They are signals of a deeper structural risk embedded in the built-up environment.

Corporate property is especially exposed because it is designed to last. Office parks, warehouses and campuses are typically built with a lifespan of 30-50 years. Once a facility is constructed in a vulnerable location, the investment is effectively locked in. Flood-prone land, rising temperatures or fragile infrastructure can gradually erode the reliability of assets that companies depend on for operations.