Indore, the commercial capital of the ‘heart of India’ Madhya Pradesh, is one of the busiest and most advanced business hubs in India. Spread over an area of 160.45 square kilometres, the city is one of the fastest growing cities in India. Some of the prominent areas of the city are Palasia, Rajwada, Race Course Road, Jawahar Marg, South Tukoganj, Saket, Tilak Nagar, Bangali Colony, Vajay Nagar, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Shalimar Township and others.
Indore is also home to the head office of leading shopping centre developer EWDPL, which operates the Treasure Island mall, the first organised shopping centre for the city. Apart from Treasure Island, Indore also houses several smaller shopping complexes. EWDPL is meanwhile, coming up with another mall branded as Treasure Bazar, also known as MR10, situated on the other side of the Bypass. The catchment surrounding the mall site is currently thinly populated, but as development process around the site progresses and a new township is expected to come up in a big way in the near future, the area will grow in population and profile.
Treasure Bazar at Indore has been constructed on the available habitation surrounding the site (MR10). The site is located on the MR10 (Major Road 10) and hence the name of the project as MR10. Current habitation starts a good three kilometres away from the site. However, the area after three kilometres is heavily populated and houses HIG and MIG localities. Though there are some high street shops and modern shopping complexes along with multiplexes around Vijaynagar, the area does not have any operational mall as of now. EWDPL is also coming up with a residential colony at Bijalpur – the site connecting MR10 on the same stretch.
Population
Indore’s total population in 2008 was reported to be 18,00,507 Indore (ICMR, estimation on the basis of Census, 2001) with a growth rate of 2.89 per cent. The total literacy rate in the city is reported to be 75 per cent with 64 per cent of the female literates.
Consumers
The city of Indore is divided into 75 municipality wards (Municipality of Indore, 2004), and these wards accommodate approximately 15,60,062 people (ICMR Projection, 2008 based on Census of India, 2001). The total population of the city according to the SEC A and B classifications is reported to be 603,000. About 44.4 per cent of the total population of the city belongs to SEC A and B categories. The percentage distribution of population belong to SEC A and B is:
SEC A1: 13.4 per cent
SEC A2: 9.1 per cent
SEC B1: 11.4 per cent
SEC B2: 10.5 per cent
The population distribution of SEC A and B has been estimated on the basis of NRS data and this has been estimated by taking in to account the proportionate distribution of SEC A and B population in the city.
The ICMR survey reports that about 95 per cent of the households belonging to SEC A and B have colour television sets while 94 per cent of the households have a two wheeler. The average monthly household expenditure is estimated to be Rs.19,897. ICMR estimates from responses by respondents that these consumers will shift their total expenditure by about 8.4 per cent to the new mall as and when it opens. On the other hand, another 73.4 per cent of the households are likely to shop from both the existing and upcoming malls. The transfer of wallet share is estimated to be around Rs 21 crore.
Transport
The city is well-connected to other parts of the country by road, rail and air. The economy of the city is characterised by hotel and tourism, educational institutes and has facilities and offices of several corporate giants including Hindustan Motors, Crompton Greaves, Kinetic Honda, Pratap Steels, Prestige Group, Larsen and Tubro, Kores India and others. Agriculture and mining are other sectors contributing to the economy of the city in a greater way.
— Dr Joydeep Goswami*
Dr Joydeep Goswami is an economist at National Council of Applied Economic Reserach (NCAER)
