kolkata at just over 009 million sq ft overall transaction volume in office space was unable to pick up in kolkata this quarter as well said a recent report by colliers international lease activity was driven by assortment of industries including technology firms which shared about 33 of the absorption pie while engineering firms came in next at 25 share fmcg and pharmaceutical sectors both contributed 11 to the transaction volumes bulk of the leasing volumes was concluded in sector v due to availability of large floor plates a number of tenants whose leases were about to end were looking to benefit from affordable rents and high availability of good quality office space in peripheral area major transactions in this quarter include ge alstom lease renewal in millenium city building in sector v other notable transactions include uber taking up 15600 sq ft space and ysg taking up 10000 sq ft in sector v occupiers continued to opt for lower cost options in sector v it is worthwhile to note that cbd and sbd micro markets together account for only 6 of the total vacant stock peripheral areas of new town and rajarhat contribute 45 while sector v accounts for 42 of the total vacant stock with vacancy levels reaching 30 in pbd rents are unlikely to pick up in the coming quarters said swapan dutta senior associate director office services colliers international however a few new office buildings in sector v registered growth in rental values the report also said that the sector v remained as the preferred destination accounting for 78 of the total deal volume on the back of affordable rents as vacancy levels remain high at 30 in sector v property owners offered discounts on lease renewals to retain existing occupiers demand will remain concentrated in sector v backed mainly by home grown companies looking for small to medium sized office space peripheral locations like rajarhat will see decline in rents owing to high vacancy levels and new supply coming in the next six months added dutta according to the report the new supply planned for 2017 is rather limited with only one project expected to be completed in peripheral area of rajarhat adding 015 million sq ft built up area in the backdrop of low volume of transactions in q3 2016 most landlords were concerned with tenant outflow to lower cost locations and therefore were willing to keep rents at the same level or reduce rents to retain current occupiers this trends is likely to continue till major uptick in absorption is registered