DLF to invest ₹2,000 cr to build two shopping malls in NCR, Goa

NEW DELHI: Realty major DLF will invest around ₹2,000 crore to construct two new shopping malls in Gurugram and Goa, as it sees huge growth potential in organised retail with the opening up of the economy after a significant reduction in covid-19 cases.

Sriram Khattar, managing director, DLF rental business, sounded bullish on India’s organised retail sector, which was badly affected in the last two years because of the covid-19 pandemic.

Khattar said DLF is expanding its retail real estate portfolio and will develop two new shopping malls, including ‘Mall of India’ Gurugram and four neighbourhood shopping centres. At present, DLF has a retail footprint of 4.2 million square feet in eight properties, including malls and shopping centres, mainly across Delhi-NCR. “We have started the construction of a premium mall in Goa of about 0.575 million square feet. It will be the best mall of Goa to the standards which our malls are,” Khattar said.

Khattar said the investment would be around ₹300-350 crore over the next two years. “We are also in an advanced stage of planning for our ‘Mall of India’ Gurgaon comprising 2.5 million square feet area,” he said. The construction is expected to start by year-end.

“So the architects have started doing the designing. We hope to complete it over the next six months or so. Since it’s a very large mall, the planning takes more time,” Khattar said.

Khattar said the project cost of ‘Mall of India’ Gurugram would be ₹1,500-1,600 crore, excluding land cost. On the viability of the ‘Mall of India’ project considering the presence of Ambience Mall nearby, Khattar said competition helps in growing the market.