Nearly 100 malls to come up by 2012 in seven cities

Nearly 100 shopping malls are likely to come up by 2012 in seven major cities of India on expectation of increased demand from retailers, according to a report from property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

Pointing out that the global economic slowdown did impact the retail story 'momentarily', the consultant said the sector has witnessed a rapid adaptation to the ground realities and "is now poised at the right crossroads to take the next giant leap in the coming decade".

According to the report, there are 193 shopping centres are currently operational in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

"Ninety four shopping centres encompassing a total retail space of 37 million sq ft are expected to be operational during the next nine quarters between Q4, 2010 and 2012 across the top seven metropolitan cities of India," it added.