India’s top retailers raise ₹4,000 crore as store expansion reaches four-year high
More Retail, Trent and DMart have raised or approved more than ₹4,000 crore in fresh funding as major retailers accelerate store rollout and omnichannel capacity. The top 10 listed retailers added a net 2,182 stores in FY2025-26, 25% above the previous fiscal.
What happened
India’s leading retailers are accelerating physical-store and omnichannel expansion, funded through debt and equity. Reliance Retail, More Retail, DMart and
Key facts
- More Retail, Trent and Avenue Supermarts raised or announced over ₹4,000 crore in FY2025-26
- Reliance Retail non-current bank borrowings rose to ₹22,521 crore in 2025-26 from ₹14,809 crore a year earlier
- Reliance Retail operates more than 700 dark stores
- Top 10 listed retailers added a net 2,182 stores in 2025-26, up 25% from 1,745 in the preceding fiscal
- Retailers added 1,865 stores in 2023-24
- More Retail raised over ₹500 crore in NCDs via two tranches
- Avenue Supermarts approved up to ₹1,000 crore in NCDs
- Trent received approval to raise up to ₹2,500 crore
- Arvind Fashions plans 150,000 sq ft net retail-space additions in 2026-27 versus 140,000 sq ft last fiscal
Why this matters
The expansion wave raises the strategic value of real-estate access, omnichannel capabilities and partnerships that can help retailers scale store networks faster.
What to watch
- Quarterly same-store sales growth versus net store additions, especially whether mature-store growth remains positive.
- EBITDA margin, rent-to-sales ratio and pre-opening expense trends at Trent, DMart, More Retail and other listed peers.
- Private-label mix, inventory days and markdown intensity as signals of whether scale is improving buying power.
- Commercial real-estate rents and vacancy rates in tier-2 and tier-3 high streets, malls and neighborhood catchments.
- New warehouse, dark-store, fulfillment-center and cold-chain investments that indicate omnichannel capacity is keeping pace with physical rollout.
- Consumer staples inflation, discretionary spending trends and rural demand recovery, which determine whether new capacity can be absorbed.
- Store closure, relocation or format-conversion announcements within 12 to 18 months of openings.
- Accelerate cluster-based openings in tier-2 and tier-3 cities to lower distribution cost per store and build local awareness faster.
- Use fresh funding for supply-chain automation, regional warehouses, cold-chain capacity and click-and-collect infrastructure rather than only storefronts.
- Increase private-label penetration and exclusive brand partnerships to protect gross margin against promotional intensity.
- Pursue smaller neighborhood, value and convenience formats where large-box economics are weaker.
- Lock in long-term leases and strategic retail-real-estate partnerships before competition pushes occupancy costs higher.
- Rationalize underperforming legacy stores while reporting gross openings aggressively.