New Delhi's Most Expensive Retail Location. Aired 11:00a-12:00p ET
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: New Delhi, the ancient vibrant capital of India, home to more than 16 million people growth here has exploded in the last decade and with it consumer spending. As a result, demand for more shopping space is high, but most locals still favor streetside shops and century old bazaars like these. At first glance, this area looks like your average New Delhi street market with broken pavements, stray dogs and loose electricity wires. But this dusty, dirty bazaar is actually the most expensive retail location in all of India and one of the most expensive in the world. Welcome to Khan Market, where the average rent is more than $200 per square meter a month, that's well more than the average India's monthly salary.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is as recent as 10 to 15 years, I would say, when the market started evolving from being a neighborhood small retail place to brands started coming in, people realized that all of sudden there are high end restaurants and entertainment places. This is when the Khan market started coming in.</s>DEFTERIOS: The district originally emerged as a shopping neighborhood for Pakistani refugees since the late 1940s. But what used to be a market with grocers and cloth merchants now has many of the trappings of western malls: spas, luxury boutiques and high end restaurants.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, if any luxury brand, which wants to come to India or to New Delhi, they want to be here, because it gives them the highest end of the market. It gives them exposure to the high net worth individuals or the high end of the market, which they want.</s>DEFTERIOS: For Delhiites to buy or sell here is now a status symbol.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible) rich people who have money. They want to be seen in Khan Market. (inaudible) came anybody who wants to be in India wants to be in Khan Market whether they're making money or losing money</s>DEFTERIOS: Khan market has another key advantage. It is close to India's political elite.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since Khan Market is the closest market to the parliament and member parliament, residents of (inaudible) parliament, bureaucrats, embassies, this market is frequented by all these VIP people of India.</s>DEFTERIOS: It may be posh, but it's poorly maintained. Open sewers are a common site. Parking is chaotic.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we look at the environment around, it's not that great, but the fact is the choices are very limited. And it's just now the place to be.</s>DEFTERIOS: Affluent Delhiites still flock to Khan market with 10,000 shoppers coming here every day. And as India gets richer and fuller, this football (ph) looks set to grow. John Defterios, One Square Meter, CNN.