Kolkata, July 30 (UNI) India’s retail sector is undergoing fast-paced expansion as both domestic and foreign retailers widen their footprint across major markets, a study report said today.
In H1 2025 (January to June), India’s top 7 cities witnessed 5.7 million sq. ft of retail space take-up, registering a remarkable 69 pc year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth. Q2 2025 (April-June) noted 2.6 million sq. ft. of leasing, indicative of 17 pc Y-o-Y growth over Q2 2024.
However, Q2 2025 leasing was down by 15 pc compared to the preceding quarter (January-March) of 2025. It is the high gross leasing of 3.1 million sq. ft in January-March period that helped the H1 2025 leasing volume attain a strong double digit YoY growth over H1 2024.
“Looking at the quarterly trends, fashion & apparel and food & beverage continued to be the leading retailer categories, contributing 33 pc and 22 pc respectively to the gross leasing total during April-June quarter. Unlike past trends, jewellery emerged as the third leading category, surpassing Entertainment, which typically used to be amongst the top three retailer categories until the first quarter of 2025,” said chief Economist & head of research & REIS, India, JLL. Dr. Samantak Das,
He said from a 16 pc share in gross leasing in Q1 2025, the share of Entertainment has dwindled to 6 pc in Q2 2025. Jewellery retailers commanded a 9% share in gross leasing with 0.23 million sq. ft of prime retail space consumed in the second quarter.
While leasing in this category was largely dominated by indigenous brands opening new stores, mainly in southern cities of India, this quarter also saw a couple of European jewellery brands open new stores in Delhi NCR” he said
The quarterly decline in Q2 2025 leasing is a short-term blip, attributed to supply constraints as the second quarter of 2025 remained bereft of any major completions, except one new mall in Hyderabad.
Despite this scenario, a 165 pc YoY growth in new mall supply was noted in H1 2025 as sizable mall supply across Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Hyderabad came on the block in the first quarter. Interestingly, the first half of 2025 has already achieved 70% of last year’s annual leasing volume which stood at 8.1 million sq. ft.
Data for top 7 cities (Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune). 2. Gross leasing includes real estate space leased in malls, high streets and retail developments. Numbers rounded off to the nearest one decimal place.
Bengaluru and Delhi NCR lead Q2 expansion with 46 pc market share as regional hubs show distinct category preferences
Across the top 7 cities, Bengaluru and Delhi NCR together contributed 46 pc to the overall gross leasing volume for Q2 2025. While food and beverage as a category remained popular in Delhi NCR in terms of space take-up, jewellery and home furnishings retailers expanded steadily in Bengaluru during this period.
Hyderabad recorded nearly 0.5 million sq. ft. of retail space take-up primarily due to a new mall completion. Mumbai maintained its leasing momentum with ~0.5 million sq. ft leased across the city’s top malls and prominent high streets. Cities such as Chennai and Kolkata witnessed a slight uptick in retail spaces leased as compared to Q1 2025, whereas the retail leasing activity in Pune remained moderate.
