The MCDs sealing drive seems to have inadvertently provided a boost to the already booming retail and commercial space market in Delhi and the NCR with prices having risen by more than 100% in several areas over the last one year. The scarcity of alternative locations and the growing demand for premium locations are the primary reasons responsible for this rise.

In fact prices have shot up by more than 10% over the last 15 days itself ever since the sealing drive resumed. The demand is such that even shops in DDA (Delhi Development Authority) markets, which did not have any takers till a couple of months back due to their high prices, are now selling at twice that price. According to a real-estate consultant there was currently an acute shortage of retail space in Delhi which had been made worse by the sealing drive.

For example, in the Janakpuri District Centre, more than 20% of the shops and offices were lying vacant until last year due to the high asking rate of almost Rs.25000 per square feet i.e. Rs. 25 lakh for a 100 square feet space. People instead preferred taking shops in residential areas which were available at a fraction of this price. But the sealing drive changed all that and in the past six months there has been a mad scramble to buy these same shops which are now quoting at Rs50 lakh for 100 square feet of space. The prices in malls in neighboring Gurgaon and Noida have also gone up by around 35-50%.

Several people, including the Minister of State for Urban development Ajay Maken, have held the DDA responsible for this space crunch since out of the 29 district centers that had been proposed to be constructed with an area of about 96 lakh square meters, only about 13 have been completed till date which translates to an area of roughly 15 lakh square meter.

While big retailers like Big Jo's and CTC Plaza have already chalked out plans to open alternative outlets many smaller retailers can't even do that due to the prohibitive establishment costs. For example, a retailer who used to do business worth Rs. 1.5 crore from his shop at Lajpat Nagar would now get a similar shop in an area like Sarojini Nagar for Rs. 10 crores with even the monthly rentals being to the tune of RS. 3-4 lakhs. For these people the situation appears really grim.