The number of vacant shopping malls in eight major cities of the country increased from 57 to 64 last year. This is because retailers and consumers prefer premium properties. Real estate consultant Knight Frank India on Tuesday released a report titled ‘Think India Think Retail 2024’. According to Bhasha news, shopping centers and big markets of 29 cities have been taken into consideration. According to the report, the number of vacant retail properties has increased rapidly in eight major metros.
known as ghost shopping center
According to the news, 64 shopping malls with gross leasable area of about 1.33 crore square feet were classified as ‘ghost shopping centers’ in 2023. ‘Ghost shopping centres’ refer to those malls which are more than 40 per cent vacant. Talking about area, it is 58 percent more than last year’s (2022) 84 lakh square feet. Knight Frank has estimated a loss of Rs 6,700 crore or US$798 million in 2023 due to the increase in the number of vacant shopping centres.
There are 21 empty malls in Delhi-NCR
According to Knight Frank data, out of the total 64 vacant malls in the top eight cities, 21 malls are in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), 12 in Bengaluru, 10 in Mumbai, six in Kolkata, five in Hyderabad, four in Ahmedabad and There are three each in Chennai and Pune. Only in Hyderabad the number of such malls has decreased by 19 percent. Kolkata has recorded the highest increase of 237 percent on annual basis.
Shopping centers also decreased in metros
Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said the consumption momentum driven by rising disposable incomes, young demographics and urbanization is in favor of the organized retail sector. He said a better retail experience is important for shoppers, highlighting the importance of physical retail locations. Knight Frank also emphasized that the total number of shopping centers in metros has also decreased in a year. According to the report, despite the addition of eight new retail centres, the total number of shopping centers declined to 263 in 2023 as 16 shopping centers closed last year.
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