Fuelled by India's prowess in knowledge-based industry, the total space take-up for the IT and ITeS sectors is all set to cross 20 million square feet in 2004, overshooting the earlier projection by a whopping 54 per cent, according to real estate consulting firm CB Richard Ellis.

Bangalore topped the list of space occupied by the IT industry during January-March 2004 with 2 million sq feet, followed by Mumbai with about 1.9 million sq feet, CB Richard Ellis said in its findings 'Space take-up trends in IT and IT-Enabled Sector across India.'

"Pune has finished third with about 1.45 million sq feet of space take-up. Chennai and Hyderabad have taken up fourth and fifth positions with approximately 0.6 million sq feet and 0.5 million sq feet of space taken, respectively," it said.

Delhi finished sixth with 0.4 million square feet in the first quarter of 2004.

The study said during the first quarter, about 6.45 million square feet of space was taken up by the IT and IteS industry in five of India's biggest knowledge hubs.

Based on the first quarter figures, the total space taken up is expected to cross the 20 million square feet mark by the year 2004, which would be an increase of about 54 per cent from the earlier estimate of about 13 million square feet, a CBRE statement said.

Commenting on the trend, Anshuman Magazine, managing director of CBRE, South Asia, said: "The year is expected to witness a substantial real estate activity in IT and IteS segment. If Q1 is any indication of the year to come, then the year 2004 would prove even better for this sector which further substantiates the fact that India is fast emerging as the knowledge capital of the world."