Delhi may witness Dubai, Malaysia like shopping fests

Delhi may witness an international shopping festival on the lines of major global festivals such as Dubai Shopping Festival and Malaysia Sales Carnivals.
CII Delhi State Council is planning for a mega show to boost the retail sales in the city, which is facing a tough competition from online sales and the shopping malls of the neighboring Gurgaon and Noida.
"We are planning to host a shopping festival in Delhi on the lines of global sales events as Dubai Shopping Festival where people from all the corners would come and buy products in Delhi," said CII Delhi State Council Past Chairman Ankur Bhatia.

Besides, CII Delhi State Council chairperson Alka Kaul has sought help from the government in organising this mega shopping event.
"We are requesting the Delhi government to help us in the event by providing infrastructural support. This can not be done without government's support," Kaul said during Delhi Retail Summit organised by the industry body.
On this, Delhi Minister of Industry, Health & Power Satyendar Jain, who was also present there, assured all the help required by the traders.

"The city has lot of potential in retail. The government is planning to develop infra at places known for specialized retail sales," said Jain.

This would be done in several phase, according to CBRE South Asia Chairman & MD Anshuman Magazine.
"First we would organise shopping festivals for Northern region, then it would go on national level and finally it would go global," Magazine said.
He added: "Before going global, we would have to work on various fronts from taxation to customs and need a greater cooperation from Centre and as well as state governments. Global festivals have elements as entertainment, proper infra and we have to work on that".
Unitech Group's retail head Munish Baldev said that the city has a lot of potential and it just needs vision to develop proper infrastructure as malls and shopping places.

"The city retail sales would continue to grow between 10 to 15 per cent despite challenges from online shopping. The government should properly develop the places for it," Baldev said.