Delhi-NCR retail leasing rose 45% in Q1 2026, resurfacing report shows fashion and F&B demand strengthened
Resurfacing data from January-March 2026, Delhi-NCR retail leasing reached 0.59 million sq ft, up from 0.41 million sq ft a year earlier. Malls accounted for 64% of leasing, while fashion and F&B occupiers drove demand despite constrained quality supply across major cities.
What happened
Cushman & Wakefield · Delhi-NCR retail leasing climbed 45% year-on-year in Q1 2026 to nearly 6 lakh sq ft, led by fashion and F&B demand. Mall leasing
Key facts
- Delhi-NCR retail leasing rose 45% year-on-year to 0.59 million sq ft in January-March 2026, from 0.41 million sq ft
- Shopping malls accounted for 64% of Delhi-NCR leasing; high streets accounted for 36%
- Delhi-NCR held a 30% share of leasing across India’s top eight cities
- Eight-city leasing fell 10% to 1.95 million sq ft from 2.17 million sq ft
- Eight-city retail leasing was 9.21 million sq ft in calendar 2025
Why this matters
Fashion, F&B and mall-focused platforms may offer the strongest partnership or acquisition angles in Delhi-NCR, where occupier demand is outpacing quality retail-space availability.
What to watch
- Quarterly NCR mall vacancy, new Grade-A mall completions and pre-leasing levels.
- Reported base-rent escalation, revenue-share terms and tenant incentive packages in major NCR malls.
- Same-store sales and store productivity for fashion, beauty, QSR and café chains operating in Delhi-NCR.
- Whether top-eight-city leasing returns to growth or the NCR gain remains a localized outlier.
- Consumer discretionary spending trends, inflation, interest rates and festive-season sales performance.
- Announcements of flagship-store openings, mall expansions or closures by large apparel and F&B brands.
- Fashion chains should lock in renewal options and pipeline locations in dominant NCR malls before vacancy tightens further.
- F&B operators should prioritize formats that can absorb higher mall rents, including premium fast casual, café, dessert and experience-led concepts with strong sales per square foot.
- Mall owners should re-tenant toward fashion, food and entertainment clusters, using shorter pop-up leases to capture emerging brands before committing long-term space.
- Retailers should compare rising occupancy costs with high-street alternatives and negotiate landlord-funded fit-out support, revenue-share structures or stepped rents.
- Developers with planned NCR retail inventory should accelerate leasing and pre-commitment campaigns, particularly for food courts, premium fashion zones and experiential anchors.