| The company will invest Rs 500 crore in its properties in the next couple of years. The company is building a 7,26,000 sq ft mall in Kalyan, on the outskirts of Mumbai. |
| It has completed the first phase and will start the construction of the second phase in five months. The mall would have four levels of retail and entertainment space, said Tony Ward, vice president, West Pioneer. |
| It has also bought land in Aurangabad and is planning to build a 7,50,000 sq feet mall and a hotel. The construction of the mall would begin next year, Ward said. It is also looking at Nashik and other places in western and southern India. The malls will be called 'Metro Junction'. |
| "We feel prices are slightly inflated in India compared with other countries. Land acquisition is difficult, especially those with clear titles.'' he said. West Pioneer raised nearly $50 million from the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange last year. |
| The company is also exploring commercial and residential real estate in the country and lease out its malls. |
| "We are also looking at joint ventures and private investors in our properties,'' Ward said. |
| According to industry estimates, there are nearly 560 malls planned in the country within next three years. In October 2006, the manufacturer and retailer of apparels Provogue announced its joint venture with UK-based Liberty International to set up malls in the country. |
| Provogue MD Nikhil Chaturvedi said that there were very few retail infrastructure players in the country, and international players with global expertise would do better than local developers as they lacked relevant knowledge in building malls. |
| "Half of the new malls planned will be unsuccessful. Either their formats are wrong or they make mistakes in selecting the right retail mix. International retailers look 20 years beyond compared with the local developers," he said. |
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