There are malls and malls. Even then, most of us moan that the city doesn't offer us a complete shopping experience. We'd also groan at the thought of traffic choking the arterial roads. This is just the beginning.
The GVK group undertook a consumer study and learnt that most families in Banjara and Jubilee Hills areas have an annual income that exceeds five lakh rupees.
In the next two years, Hyderabad will have at least a dozen malls. Most are high-end ones that come with multiplexes. Of course, most of them promise multilevel parking facility that will put an end to parking woes. Here's a look at the shape of things to come...Cities like Delhi, Gurgaon and Kolkata have generic malls co-existing with specialty malls exclusive wedding, automobile and jewellery malls and so on. But what Hyderabad can expect, to begin with, are malls that will have something of everything high-end fashion, jewellery, cinemas and food courts. In different stages of planning and execution are eight shopping centres at Road no 1, Banjara Hills, one at Himayat Nagar, one at Gachibowli and one overlooking Durgam Cheruvu, Madhapur,, all targeting the middle, upper middle class and the elite sections.
Where are the buyers, did we hear you say? The GVK group undertook a consumer study and learnt that most families in Banjara and Jubilee Hills areas have an annual income that exceeds five lakh rupees. The intention of most malls is to make the elite consumers who travel to Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore for some bling-bling shopping open their purse strings in Hyderabad.
"There is very little organised shopping in the metros, say two per cent. This can go up to 10 per cent," reasons Girish Malpani, CEO of Maheshwari group, which is planning a shopping centre near Nagarjuna Circle, Banjara Hills and at Himayat Nagar, opposite Pick 'n' Move eatery. The former will have an area of two lakh sq ft that will include four-screen multiplex and multilevel parking for 900 vehicles. The one-lakh 20,000 sq ft Himayatnagar mall will have three multiplex screens.
GVK One, spread across six lakh sq ft area, boasts of a six-screen multiplex by the Inox group, national and international brands, food courts and a 1000-car multilevel parking. Talks are on with the government to expand the parking area, if necessary. The mall is expected to open by March-June 2007.
Located in Banjara Hills, City center is the first true mall to come up in Hyderabad. It provides three floors of shopping and hosts some of the well known brands in India. It provides a good shoppping experience providing escelators on every level.
Since the concept of suburban growth started in the city a few decades ago, real estate developers as well as the general public went by the perception that they were meant for housing purpose alone. Travel from the outskirts to the city, work here and shop here and drive back home was the favourite caption for many property ads.
Thus one saw housing conglomerations ranging from townships to apartment blocks coming up miles away from the heart of the city while business districts stayed firmly rooted here or moved around in the vicinities. Whether it was Vanasthalipuram, Kukatpally Housing Board (KPHB) or Uppal, all grew as residential in nature. And while all the glitzy malls, theatres, multiplexes and food courts came up in the centre of the city, the peripheries clearly missed out the activity.
Now times are up for a change again, too, will undergo a makeover. IVRCL and Ishaan groups are looking to cash in on the lack of huge malls in the outskirts. The two biggest malls will occupy about 3,00,000 square feet each in retail space, while the total built-up area for Inorbit will be 298,000 square feet and IVRCL Mall 5,80,000 square feet, according to Trammell Crow Meghraj estimates. The Rahejas (Ishaan UK) plan to invest Rs 120 crore-Rs160 crore in the Inorbit Mall.
Madhucon has come out with a proposal that promises to usher in major changes on the Kukatpally-Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) - Miyapur belt on a nine-acre site located right on the NH-9 in front of the JNTU campus, Madhucon has a housing-cum-commercial project, which will be first-of-its-kind in these areas. The project, expected to cost Rs.175 crores, will give shape to a deluxe residential apartment apart from the entertainment and shopping facilities and the also the star hotel and multiplex.
The impact of these moves on the already bustling suburbs and beyond is what remains to be seen. The IT zone, comprising Madhapur, Kondapur, Gachibowli, and vicinities have already climbed high on the price ladder and remain beyond the reach of many.
Source: The Hindu, A Mashup of several articles over last one year.
