For years, India’s shopping centres were built faster than the country could shop in them. Many glittering structures aged before their time, their atriums echoing with emptiness instead of footsteps. Now a new national retail study argues that this ‘ghost mall’ problem isn’t a dead end. It may be the sector’s biggest turnaround opportunity.
Knight Frank India’s latest retail report, Think India, Think Retail 2025, maps 365 shopping centres across 32 cities. The finding that stands out: 74 malls are running far below potential, many with entire wings in darkness and only a handful of tenants holding on. Yet hidden inside this slump lies 4.8 million square feet of retail gold that can be revived to generate nearly Rs. 357 crore in annual rentals.
That number alone signals why developers, investors and city planners cannot ignore India’s silent shopping centres any longer.
Where the Trouble Began
Most ghost malls weren’t born ghosts. They opened with ribbon-cuttings, glossy hoardings and ambitious promises. Over time, many were undone by poor layouts, badly planned catchments, confusing circulation, outdated design and weak anchor tenants. Some were simply unlucky, sitting in pockets where consumer demand never matched the supply.
The report shows that the problem is far from limited to smaller towns. Tier 1 cities hold nearly 12 million sq. ft of dormant space. These include some of India’s earliest malls, now struggling to stay relevant in an era of experience-driven retail and hyper-selective brands.
In contrast, Grade A malls in big metros record single-digit vacancies and strong footfall. The gap between top-tier centres and ageing assets has widened so much that it has split the retail landscape into two stark categories: malls that consumers love and malls they have simply forgotten.
Mysuru to Vizag: The Cities Getting It Right
What makes some cities thrive even with limited retail supply? Mysuru is the best proof. With a mere handful of large shopping centres and vacancy at an enviable 2%, the city shows what happens when supply stays tightly aligned with demand. Every well-designed centre there stays packed.
Vijayawada and Vadodara tell a similar story. Both cities introduced shopping centre supply cautiously, avoiding the temptation of overbuilding. Retailers respond well to markets where they don’t have to split footfall three ways.
Down south, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam are beginning to look like rising stars. Their mix of new, well-managed centres and hungry shoppers has created a near-ideal retail environment. Footfalls are steady, anchor tenants stick around, and vacancies hover around 6%.
These cities demonstrate a simple truth: when planning, design and management stay in sync, the market rewards them.
The Markets Still Struggling to Find Their Feet
The other end of the spectrum paints a different picture. Nagpur leads the list of underperformers with a staggering 49% vacancy. It is one of India’s clearest examples of supply overshooting demand. Developers built expecting an imminent boom that never materialised.
Punjab’s Amritsar and Jalandhar face another challenge: too many malls competing for the same set of brands. Retailers have little incentive to expand when they can cherry-pick a few strong properties and ignore the rest. The result is a cluster of half-empty centres that never reach critical mass.
This divide makes one thing clear. India doesn’t have a retail demand problem. It has a retail quality problem.
The Untapped Potential Inside Ghost Malls
Of the 74 ghost malls Knight Frank identifies, only 15 stand out as immediate high-potential revival candidates. These centres, spread across Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, can generate a combined Rs 357 crore every year if upgraded and leased effectively.
Two-thirds of this opportunity sits in the metros, where ageing but well-located properties can be transformed faster than brand-new developments can be constructed. The remaining one-third lies in Tier 2 cities, where rising consumption and limited Grade A supply create a sweet spot for turnaround strategies.
The West and South together represent almost 77% of this revival opportunity. And India’s top eight cities alone account for 66% of the potential rental gains. With rental yields of 5.86% on offer, the numbers tilt strongly in favour of redevelopment and adaptive reuse.
A Second Life for India’s Malls
What does reinvigoration look like? It could be a complete redesign of circulation and common areas. It could be an anchor mix rebuilt around entertainment, food and leisure. It could be co-working, healthcare, education or multi-brand experience centres replacing outdated retail formats.
Many dormant centres have already started shifting to alternate uses. Flexible workspaces are finding homes in previously empty wings. Some older malls are testing mixed-use models that combine offices with retail and community-focused services.
The report suggests that the next wave of retail growth won’t come only through new shopping centres. It will come from reimagining what already exists. With demand rising and consumers expecting more than aisles and food courts, reviving old assets is becoming both a necessity and a chance to reshape India’s urban fabric.
Malls that once struggled to stay open could soon return as lively hubs of learning, leisure, culture and commerce. The shell is already built. What remains is vision, design clarity and disciplined management.
India’s ghost malls aren’t dead spaces. They are sleeping giants waiting for someone to switch the lights back on.
