India's biggest retail players are on the hunt for space again, after a hiatus of two years. Leading retailers that include Reliance, Pantaloon, Aditya Birla (More), Trent (Tata), and Shoppers Stop, are looking for space ranging between 1,000 sq ft and 150,000 sq ft, in various formats across the country. "Business outlook remains buoyant for the retail industry and expansion plans are on track," said Thomas Varghese, Chairman at the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII's) National Council of Retail and Chief Executive Officer, at Aditya Birla Retail.

The company itself is looking to open 12 hypermarkets and around 150 supermarkets in India. Realty space for some of these have already been tied up, while negotiations are on for rest of it, said Varghese.

Malls in Saket and Vasant Kunj in South Delhi witnessed a rental increase of 9-12%, while Gurgaon witnessed rental appreciation of almost 15-16% as various brands consolidated outlets to tap the mid and upper mid-income catchment in the micro-market, the report added. "The demand for retail is good at the moment. There has been a 15-20% increase in rentals over the last two years