14 million sq ft more retail spaces in top 8 cities by 2020

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Over the next five years, nearly 85 malls are expected to come up in India, and more than 30 new malls accounting for nearly 14 million sq ft area are expected to open just in the top eight cities by 2020, says data shared by ANAROCK Retail.

Cities that have so far seen maximum malls include Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida and Delhi in NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Pune, it says.

Low vacancy levels and high rentals in Tier I cities are now also paving the way for retail expansion in tier II cities like Lucknow, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Mangalore, and Ahmedabad, to name a few. In fact, sensing immense opportunities and easy penetration into the Indian retail diaspora, overseas retailers are now expanding not just in metros but even tier two cities namely Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, and Jaipur. This has led to mushrooming of malls all across the country, it says.

In fact, many malls that have failed to perform as per expectations over the years have either been converted into commercial office spaces or even been developed into residential buildings.

Some classic examples include Ansal Plaza in Delhi which has been converted into more of a commercial complex, while Jewel Square, Kakade Centre Port and East Court in Pune have also been converted into office spaces. Malls such as Nirmal Lifestyles, Mumbai are being 'reborn' as residential buildings, says Anuj Kejriwal, MD & CEO - ANAROCK Retail.

Also, both online shopping and physical retail will continue to coexist in India, without impacting each other too much. In the West, online retail has proved to be a major disruptor for physical retail - especially given the fact that there is no dearth of things for families to do on weekends, he says.