Mumbai malls welcome 24x7 ruling

As Maharashtra government approved its long-pending proposal to keep malls, shops and restaurants open for 24X7 in the city, shopping mall owners welcomed the move. Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday announced that malls, multiplexes, shops and restaurants located in non-residential areas could operate round the clock starting January 27.

“Proposal of Mumbai 24x7 has been approved by the cabinet today. From 27th January, malls, multiplexes, shops and eateries in non-residential areas like Bandra Kurla Complex and Nariman Point will remain open 24x7. However, we won't impose this on anyone,” Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray was quoted as saying in a media report.

“The government’s decision could help generate more revenue and jobs, in addition to the existing 5 lakh people working in the service the sector,” he further added.

This decision was also backed by Praveen Pardesi, Civic Chief and Sanjay Bharve, Commissioner of Police. The policy states that gated communities, primarily with entertainment and food plazas, have been given permission to remain open 24x7. However, these gated communities need to fulfil certain criteria, like be equipped with CCTV surveillance, parking facilities, the ability to ensure safety and be able to curtail noise.

According to reports, among the likely early-birds joining the late-night bandwagon are – R-City Mall in Ghatkopar, Oberoi Mall and The Hub in Goregaon, Growel 101 in Kandivali, Atria Mall in Worli, Phoenix Market City in Kurla, High Street Phoenix in Lower Parel, Citi Mall in Andheri.

R City Mall embarks on this exciting bandwagon by staying open 24 X 7 on Friday 24^th and Saturday 25^th January 2020, to begin with.

Embracing the exciting new development with open arms, Sandeep Runwal, Managing Director, Runwal Developers, which owns R City Mall in Ghatkopar said, “We are happy that Mumbai is shaping itself to match the global standards. We are now talking to our retailers to support this global phenomenon and help us in the smooth functioning of the trials. We are also in the process of increasing mall security to maintain the decorum of the mall and to make sure that the residents are not adversely affected by this development.”

Adds, Santush Kumar Pandde, R City Mall Head, “This is an exciting opportunity for the mall and retailers. We have planned for various promotional offers in order to gain higher footfalls which will benefit our retailers. These trial days will help us gauge what works and what doesn’t, in terms of offerings, timings and other operational procedures and make it a beneficial offering for our consumers and retailers in the long run.”

Welcoming the initiative, Sachin Dhanawade, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Retail & Real Estate, Grauer & Weil (India) Limited said, “We appreciate the concept of 24x7 in Mumbai and happy to support the initiative; however, it is imperative that we take feedback and consensus from our retail partners. The Entertainment and F&B tenants have responded positively for extended hours of operations. However, most retailers at Growel’s 1O1 are still working on their revenue v/s expense projections to assess the financial impact in order to support this initiative. We as a mall are also reviewing the cost impact on operational cost v/s the revenues that would be generated for tenants to support the initiative partially, if not fully. To begin with, we may consider trying this out on Fridays and Saturdays.”

Mukesh Kumar, CEO, Infiniti Mall shares, “It is a great initiative by the government and administration to allow malls to remain open 24x7. We will certainly talk to the retailers on this positive announcement. In the first phase, we would encourage F&B operators to keep the outlets open on weekends and National holidays till 2.00 AM. Depending on the response, we will take this further to other retailers.  I am hoping that Mumbaikars and tourists will wholeheartedly support this and make this into a habit of late-night shopping and eating.”