India’s retail-focused Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) market is poised for rapid expansion, with its value projected to reach between ₹60,000 crore and ₹80,000 crore by 2030, according to a report by real estate consultancy ANAROCK, published by Hindustan Times.
The segment could represent 30% to 40% of India’s total REIT market, which is estimated to touch $25 billion (approximately ₹2 lakh crore) by the end of the decade.
Currently, India has five listed REITs, four of which are office-focused. Nexus Select Trust remains the only retail-centric REIT. However, this landscape is expected to evolve as more Grade A malls stabilize and become income-generating assets.
“Over the next three to five years, India may see the launch of two to three retail REITs,” said Anuj Kejriwal, CEO and managing director of ANAROCK Retail. “Our estimate of the Indian retail REITs’ potential to become a ₹60,000–80,000 crore market assumes only partial listings of institutional portfolios.”
In global markets, retail REITs make up 15% to 25% of total REIT capitalization, suggesting that India’s sector has considerable room for growth, the report said.
Institutional developers are increasingly turning their focus beyond major metros to tier-II cities such as Indore, Coimbatore, Surat, Bhubaneswar, and Chandigarh. Developers including Phoenix Mills, Prestige Estates, and Nexus Malls are expanding aggressively in these consumption-driven markets.
New projects averaging between 1 million and 1.2 million square feet are underway, with entertainment, food and beverage, and lifestyle retail accounting for nearly half of the upcoming space.
A handful of large players control most of India’s organized retail real estate, according to ANAROCK Research.
Nexus Malls, backed by private equity giant Blackstone, leads the segment with 19 malls covering about 10 million square feet across 14 cities, including Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru. Phoenix Mills follows closely with 12 malls spanning roughly 11 million square feet in major metros such as Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Kolkata.
DLF, through its joint venture DCCDL, operates eight malls totaling around 4 million square feet, primarily concentrated in Delhi-NCR. K Raheja Corp manages five malls with about 3 million square feet of leasable space in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), while Pacific Group runs nine malls of similar size across NCR. Lakeshore, with five malls totaling nearly 3 million square feet, also maintains a footprint across MMR and NCR.
ANAROCK’s RELEAP H1 2025 report noted that roughly 2.8 million square feet of new mall space was added across India’s top seven cities in the first half of 2025 — a 155% year-over-year increase. Net absorption rose 31% to reach 2 million square feet, driven primarily by the apparel and F&B sectors, which together made up 55% of total leasing activity.
“These absorption trends highlight the evolution of Indian consumer behavior,” Kejriwal said. “High-value consumption categories are gaining ground, prompting developers to recalibrate tenant mixes.”
ANAROCK predicts that within the next five years, the top five mall owners will control about 60% of India’s organized retail stock. The emergence of new retail REITs is expected to further institutionalize the sector, while older malls may undergo redevelopment into mixed-use lifestyle hubs.
“Retail is no longer an afterthought in Indian real estate portfolios,” Kejriwal said. “It’s moving to center stage as a resilient, high-yield asset class ready for institutional scale and public markets.”