The malls that used to be the place to be on weekends – think food courts, deals, and movie nights. Now, are more like spooky relics with dim lights, closed shops, and still escalators, earning a new title in India’s urban folklore: ghost malls.

How big is this ghost mall problem?

As per the latest Knight Frank report, 74 out of 365 malls in 32 cities are basically ghost malls, with over 40% of their space empty. That's about 15.5 million square feet of wasted space – like a whole bunch of malls just sitting there doing nothing.

And these aren't just small-time malls. They're part of a total mall space of around 134 million square feet. That means almost 20% of mall space has gone downhill. A lot of these once-flourishing places can't even get people through the door, much less big stores.

Why once-busy malls went dark

Well, the report points out some major issues. Some malls are old, have bad layouts, and don't offer anything different. People want good times, not just stuff to buy. Also, many malls have the same stores, and some are missing big draws like movie theaters or popular clothing stores.

Basically, they became copies of each other, and people got bored. Plus, too many malls were built in some areas, so they're all fighting for the same stores.

E-commerce didn't kill them completely, but it showed all the problems they had with location, parking, and keeping things up.

The ₹357 crore question: what if we revive them?

Buried inside this gloom is a surprisingly bright number: ₹357 crore a year. Knight Frank identifies 15 high‑potential ghost malls, with 4.8 million sq ft of space, that could together earn this much in annual rentals if properly reinvigorated.

This could be done with improvements, better stores, or converting them into mixed-use spaces, co-working spots, or community centers.

Tier 1 cities alone could generate about ₹236 crore of that rental potential, while Tier 2 cities add another ₹121 crore, showing that even “dead” malls can become powerful cash‑flow machines if strategy catches up with consumer behaviour.

Small cities to the rescue?

Here's something unexpected: some of the malls that are doing the best are in smaller cities. Mysuru, Vijayawada, Vadodara, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam are operating with near‑full occupancy and robust tenant mixes, driven by calibrated supply and strong local consumption.

This means each mall is the main place to hang out, shop, and have fun. So, while the big cities are getting attention for ghost malls, the smaller cities are showing that if you get the location, experience, and size right, malls aren't dead. They're just moving to where people actually want them.

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