Mall space is expected to touch approximately 60 million square feet by end-2008, says Jones Lang LaSalle's third annual Retailer Sentiment Survey-Asia. This is a quick rise from just about a million sq ft of space recorded in 2002.

WHAT THE BIG GUNS ARE PLANNING

• Reliance Retail is going ahead with plans worth $ 3.77 bn for setting up 205 stores.
  
• Spencer's is planning to set up 500 more stores by June 2008, with $125.89 mn investment.
  
• Hypercity is planning to set up 250 Expresscity stores in the con- venience store format across the country in the next five years.
  
• DLF plans to invest $ 4.02 bn over four years to develop 20 shopping malls across the country.
  
• Israeli mall developer Plaza Center NV plans to invest $1.25 bn over the next five-seven years.

• Vertical structures in malls are not always feasible. Bentel's studies suggest that as you proceed towards each level, there would be 30% less footfalls.As a result, a ground-plus-two structure for malls is the ideal vertical limit that should be aimed at.
  
• Two or three malls in the same area are absolutely acceptable, says Bentel, especially if the catchment area caters to about 20 million people.

• Inorbit Malls at Vadodara and Navi Mumbai
  
• The Oberoi Mall in Mumbai
  
• Reliance marts at Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Jaipur
  
• The Mall of Punjab at Mohali
  
• Mantri Mall,UB City,Mall at Malleshwaram in Bangalore

In a scenario such as the one that Indian retail is witnessing, it is but natural for global firms to eye the sector. So while we have the Wal-Marts and Metro Cash and Carry of the world eyeing this emerging market, closer home, it's biggies such as Reliance, Bharti and DLF who are aggressively laying out plans to expand their retail ventures, giving rise to a need for malls that are aesthetically designed and functional too.

"We saw the opportunity coming about five years back and decided to enter the Indian market," says Darryl Skinner, MD, Bentel Associates Realty Design Consultants Pvt. Ltd., one of South Africa's leading architectural firms, that specialises in mall development and management for the retail sector. While the beginning was a little slow, the past two years have been a lot better than what Bentel, which came to India through a joint-venture with ICS Realty, had expected.

"The growth was slow initially, but we have witnessed a rather meteoric rise in the last two years, where the business grew fivefold," says Skinner, whose firm has some plum projects under its belt right now. Perhaps this is a sign of things to come. With one of its most ambitious projects yet, the Mall of Punjab, an Emaar MGF venture that's coming up in Mohali slated to come up soon and Vijay Mallya's high-end retail mall-UB City-designed by Bente1to open up to the general public in about two months, Skinner says his company has just scratched the surface. "We are working on over 50 projects throughout India and are looking to scale up our operations.

" But while there's no dearth of opportunities for mall designers and developers, it's the basic talent that poses a problem for most global firms that are coming to India for a piece of the mall space ple.