Ankit Kansal, Founder and Managing Director, 360 Realtors
Gurgaon or the Millennial City as it is called is popular for its upmarket culture & vibrant lifestyles. The city dotted with swanky malls, commercial complexes, and posh neighbourhoods epitomizes modern urban metropolis. Often Gurgaon’s skyline has made people draw parallel with other global cities. This is further backed by growing footprint of MNCs, start-ups, financial centres, professional advisories, etc. It won’t be a exaggeration to say that Gurgaon holds the pulses of India’s strengthening economy.
Gurgaon is also a thriving hub for eateries, F&B joints, and restaurants, mostly rooted in its cosmopolitan DNAs. The city has close to ~ 16,000 F&B units as of 2024, out of which organized players comprise around ~ 5500 units. Modern eateries comprising fine dining restaurants, casual dining spaces, QSRs, cafes, pubs & breweries, bakeries, pizzerias, etc. are growing in Gurgaon at a rampant pace.
The F&B business in Gurgaon is also bolstered by an expansive mall culture in the city. Gurgaon has one of the highest mall densities in India with over 100 operational malls.
Growth shifting towards New Gurgaon
As existing micro-markets such as Golf Course Road, Golf Course Extension Road, DLF Phases (1 to 3) are reaching its peak, new micro-markets are emerging in Gurgaon. There is increased spotlight on upcoming catchments such a New Gurgaon, spread across sec 73 to 95 adjacent to the eight-lane Dwarka expressway.
Though metro is yet to enter the region, it is seamlessly connected with rest of the NCR via NH 48 (formerly NH 8), Pataudi Road, and Dwarka Expressway (also called the North Peripheral road). The IGI airport is at an approachable distance of around ~ 25 kms, whereas the nearest metro station is situated at a distance of around ~ 16 kms. Commercial catchments in Gurgaon such as DLF Cyber City and Golf Course Road are also within approachable distance (25 to 30 mins).
With the new Gurgaon region emerging as a bustling urban catchment, there are new residential and commercial projects launched at a break-neck speed. Relatively affordable prices (compared to established communities in main Gurgaon), serene living, and host of new developments are making New Gurgaon the favourite. A slew of reputed developers such as Vatika, Godrej, Emmar, Mapsko, Hero Homes, Anant Raj, Central Park M3M, Signature Global, etc have made big launches.
As population is growing, the demand for commercial real estate is also on a rise. Sec-88 is developed as a vision city and will be a bustling commercial node. Sec-88 is situated adjacent to Sec 36 A and B, where work has already commenced on a 1000-acre Global City, an international style community centre.
Plenty of malls, SCOs, commercial towers have been unveiled in New Gurgaon. New mega malls like Metro 83, Gallexie-91, Ansal Townwalk, Bestech Central Boulevard are going to reimagine the retail-cum-commercial landscape of New Gurgaon.
New Gurgaon can become the next Gastronomic Junction
There is plenty of potential for food retail brands to flourish in New Gurgaon. The rise in commercial and residential activities will naturally feed into increased demand for modern retail such as fine dining restaurants, casual dining outlets, takeaways, cafes, etc. Likewise, the demand for food parlours, pubs, restrobars, snack centres, pizzerias, etc. will also grow fast in the region.
Population will continue to rise in the region. In and around sec-91 itself, there are close to ~ 40,000 households which are currently living. This will naturally accelerate demand for organized retail including F&B joints and hubs. Local residents would prefer to eat and hangout in nearby areas rather than coming to places such as sec-29, Bani Square, MG Road, Aerocity, etc. as they are not very nearby.
The demand will continue to ramp-up for branded chains, concept-based eateries, food courts, etc. Similarly, there is ample headspace for non-organized entities as well such as eateries, food carts, kiosks, etc. The lease rates in the region is much affordable (INR 30- 60/ Sq. Ft), cheaper than other popular micro-markets. This will further incentivize commercial investments such as food retail.
