DLF to open four new malls before Diwali

DLF, the country's largest realty firm, today said that it would open four new shopping malls in the Delhi-NCR region before Diwali (mid-October) this year and is expecting a lower rent in its new malls than existing levels.

"We have currently eight malls operating across India and we are now launching four new malls in Delhi-NCR before Diwali this year. Although occupancy in the new malls would be slow initially, we expect it to reach 100 per cent later," DLF Retail Developers Managing Director Arvind Nair told reporters on the sidelines of a CII conference here.

DLF Retail Developers, which is a subsidiary of DLF, constructs shopping malls. The company follows both sale and lease model for its retail space.

Nair, however, did not reveal the investment figures for the new malls or total retail space that would be constructed.

He said that most of the space in the new malls have already been rented out.

"Although there has been some impact on rentals due to the downturn, we have not resorted to any renegotiations in our operational properties. However, rents on an average would be lower in our new malls as compared to existing ones," he said.

Terming footfalls as normal, Nair said developers are focussed on prioritising to avoid the slowdown. "Therefore, we have put our focus mostly on the metro cities," he added.