Shopping mall owners to build new projects; looking for acquisition despite COVID-19

NEW DELHI: Shopping mall ownersare bullish about growth prospects of India’s retail sector despite the disruption caused by the COVID- 19pandemic and will continue to buildnew projects as well as look foracquisition to expand their businesses, according to major industry players

In a panel discussion on retail sector organized by Naredco, senior officials of DLF NSE 0.98 % , Phoenix, Nexus Malls and Virtuous Retail said sales in their shopping malls have picked up significantly during the festive season and it should reach to pre-COVID level in January-March 2021.

Participating in the panel discussion, Pushpa Bector, Executive Director of DLF Retail, said retail sector was disrupted because of the pandemic but now demand
is back in shopping malls. She said sales have touched 70 per cent in premium shopping malls and over 50 per cent in not so good properties. Bector said sales of luxury items have performed even better because of travel restrictions. “October-November sales have been very good.

We need to adopt cautious optimism,” she said, and hoped that demand would surge in June-July next year. Shishir Shrivastava, Managing Director, Phoenix Marketcity, said sales figures in malls during October and November are fantastic. Electronics and luxury retails
are performing very well, he said. Dalip Sehgal, CEO, Nexus Malls, said the retail sector is in recovery phase during
this quarter and hoped that it will be back to normal in January-March 2021. He noted that the recovery has been faster in tier-II cities than metros and also said that shoppers are more determined now about what they want tobuy.

Sehgal said most of the categories have recovered except entertainment and food & beverages. Rohit George, MD and Executive Director on the Board of Virtuous Retail South Asia (VRSA), said retail consumption has picked up after a washout in June quarter.

He hoped that January-March 2021 would be similar to that of last year. Nexus Malls is the Indian retail portfolio arm of investment firm Blackstone Group while Virtuous Retail South Asia (VRSA) is the retail development arm of investment firm The Xander Group Inc.

Sehgal of Nexus Malls said shopping centres are the safest place with all standard operating procedures being implemented. Asked about expansion plans, Bector said the DLF would undertake mixed-used developments in Delhi-NCR and Chennai.