Indian Real Estate: Ludhiana Epicentre of North Indias Retail Revolution

Indian Real Estate: Ludhiana Epicentre of North Indias Retail Revolution

Source: Economic Times

Punjab Real Estate: All for the Mall

India Inc. looking beyond metros for growth is seeing the real numbers coming from A and B class towns, as the retail revolution churns out astounding figures. Till last year, Punjab had only two functional malls covering 2.7-lakh sq. ft. This year, nine projects will become operational, shooting the total mall space to 31.8-lakh sq. ft., a twelve fold increase from last year. Further, by year-end 2008, the increase is expected to increase four fold i.e. 152-lakh sq. ft. of mall space, while 2010 will see Punjab with over 40-malls.

And, the epicentre of the retail revolution is Ludhiana, with a retail potential of Rs. 5,940-crore by 2010 and Rs. 9,152-crore by 2015. This is evident from the whos who of the developers list announcing retail plans for Punjab, such as Rahejas, ITC, Godrej, Piramals, DLF, Ansals, Aerens, RPG, THI, Omaxe, and that is to name just a few. Even hitherto, unknown companies like MBD have also announced their plans to foray into mall development.

It makes one wonder if the retail...