Kantar flags Ahmedabad, Pune, Jaipur, Surat and Lucknow as India’s next consumption hubs
A Kantar-Dainik Bhaskar study identifies five high-potential cities for premium products and organised retail, combining large populations with rising household affluence. Ahmedabad leads on opportunity index, while Jaipur posts the highest affluence score.
What happened
Kantar and Dainik Bhaskar identify Ahmedabad, Pune, Jaipur, Surat and Lucknow as emerging consumption hubs. Their population and household-affluence profiles
Key facts
- Ahmedabad: population 98 lakh; Affluence Score 74.5; Opportunity Index 7,300
- Pune: population 68 lakh; Affluence Index 83.4; Opportunity Index 5,668
- Jaipur: population 44 lakh; Affluence Score 100.0; Opportunity Index 4,400
- Surat: population 56 lakh; Affluence Index 60.4; Opportunity Index 3,382
- Lucknow: population 42 lakh; Affluence Index 73.1; Opportunity Index 3,071
Why this matters
Target partnerships, acquisitions and real-estate alliances that accelerate entry into these emerging consumption hubs before premium retail catchments become more contested.
What to watch
- New mall openings, high-street lease transactions and retail REIT disclosures in the five cities.
- Same-store sales growth and store-level payback reported by apparel, beauty, electronics and QSR chains outside major metros.
- Residential launches, employment growth and airport/metro connectivity upgrades in priority catchments.
- Growth in credit-card, BNPL and premium smartphone penetration by city.
- Evidence of rising vacancy, promotional intensity or rental escalation that could signal overexpansion.
- Map city-level opportunity into micro-market catchments using income, mall footfall, digital-order density and residential development data.
- Prioritise small-format and omnichannel-first launches before committing to flagship store networks.
- Localise assortment, price ladders and regional-language marketing rather than replicating metro store formats.
- Secure warehousing and last-mile capacity around Ahmedabad, Pune, Jaipur, Surat and Lucknow before retail density raises logistics and real-estate costs.
- Track competitors' lease signings, franchise appointments and mall anchor commitments as leading indicators of expansion intensity.