Malls in UP's hick towns

Urban upswing in the north

After the C-class towns of UP, "shopping mall" fever is slowly beginning to take root in the smaller, under-developed towns of the state.

The project for the first shopping mall of Etah, a town adjoining Agra, was inaugurated today by the town's Municipal Chairperson Kanchan Gupta.

Talking to Business Standard on this occasion, R P Shukla, district magistrate, Etah, said being a largely under-developed town, Etah did not capture the focus of private builders and as a result, there had been almost no development in the town in terms of metro-class shopping facilities.

This took place despite its location on the Kanpur to Delhi track, adjacent to business hubs like Noida and Ghaziabad.

According to Shukla, till date, despite the huge "buying potential" and an urge to possess the latest consumer goods, the citizens were forced to travel almost 80-90 km to the Agra shopping malls, in order to purchase the required items.

However, despite the huge demand for consumer goods, the town had failed to attract commercial investors in the real estate market.

Keeping the continually growing demand for consumer goods in mind, Shukla said, the Etah district administration had decided to construct a large two-storied shopping arcade, which would be shortly erected by the Etah Municipal Board on the Grand Trunk Road joining Etah and Delhi.

The "Anupam Shopping Complex" would be a two-storeyed circular shopping arcade with over 330 shops constructed in sixteen blocks, with each block reserved for a specific item, Shukla added.

The shops would be offered on lease, Shukla said.

However, he added, though the arcade could not be called a "shopping mall" by the metropolitan standards, the construction of the arcade would ensure all the pleasures associateds with shopping for the people of Etah, instead of flocking to the nearby towns of Agra and Aligarh.

The construction of the arcade would also offer the people travelling by road from Delhi to Kanpur, a stop-over in Etah, Shukla said.

Besides the shopping arcade, the Etah administration was keen on inviting private builders to construct "designer malls" in the town, to bring the small town at par with the adjoining cities of Agra, Noida and Ghaziabad, he added.

The district administration would provide all the facilities to these builders for the same at priority basis and special care would be taken to ensure the facilitation of the construction projects at every level.

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Shopping spree

Etah did not capture the focus of private builders till date

There had been almost no development in the town in terms of metro-class shopping facilities

The town had failed to attract commercial investors in the real estate market