Enthused by strong recovery in retail consumption, realty major DLF Chairman Rajiv Singh has said the company has initiated the development of new shopping malls and looks to double retail portfolio in next five years.
At present, DLF has a retail footprint of 42 lakh square feet comprising eight properties, including malls and shopping centres, mainly across Delhi-NCR. In a message to the company's shareholders', he said the company would also scale up development of housing and office projects.
Singh informed that DLF's rental business (office complexes and malls) withstood this challenging phase and is now steadily recovering to normalcy. "We continue to maintain a positive outlook towards the rental business and consequently are judicially deploying capital to further strengthen and grow the office portfolio by developing safe and sustainable workplaces across geographies including Gurugram, Chennai and Noida," he said.
Given the recovery across the retail segment and consumption trends in India, Singh said the company has also initiated development of the next line of retail destinations across multiple geographies. "We hope to double our retail presence in the next 4-5 years with these additions," he said.
In the annual report, the company said that the retail business exhibited strong rebound despite temporary dislocations due to the pandemic. "Footfalls (in shopping malls) are steadily reaching pre-pandemic level with occupancy levels remaining strong at 97 per cent across the retail portfolio," it added.