Indian transit retail is expected to reach new heights with high growth potential in opening more QSRs and convenience stores at airports, bus stations, highways and metros in the coming decade. With a rising number of people on the move, food and beverages (F&B) retail will fly high in the country with it expected to grow 10 times its current size by 2030 across transport hubs, according to a recent report by international property consultancy Knight Frank. While the current Transit Retail business stands at $2.2 billion, “backed by a potentially healthy growth in passenger traffic and transport infrastructure, this Transit Retail opportunity is estimated to grow to $21.6 billion by 2030,” the report said.
Airports still remain the best-tapped transport hub in retail but QSRs and convenience stores are also teeming up in other hubs. “Metro stations are actively teaming with quick-serve restaurants (QSRs), convenience stores, food courts and cafés to augment their retail footprint and increase their non-farebox revenues,” according to the report. However, Transit Retail is largely untapped due to lack of retail infrastructure at these nodes.
In fact, the government can also leverage the large retail potential via lease rental opportunity. It is estimated that the government can generate $10 billion funding. “Monetisation will reduce dependencies on passenger tariffs and develop the retail eco-system for a largely unexplored territory. This will also open a new revenue stream for future infrastructure developments,” the report said. With the government’s renewed focus on infrastructure, the organised retail in the country can benefit by the government’s bid to modernise the transport modes including airports, railway stations, metro and highways, Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said.
According to the report, airports present a total retail opportunity of $9.3 billion by 2030, metro stations have the potential to reach total retail of $5.6 billion by 2030; railway stations have the opportunity of reaching $1.9 billion by 2030; highway retail in India can touch $4.2 billion by 2030 and the same at bus stations is projected to reach $0.9 billion by 2030.