Patna- The city has emerged to be a prime destination of trade, commerce and metropolitan activities in eastern India next only to Kolkata. With the start of P and M Mall many international and national luxury brands like Biba, Sabhyata, Mufti and Bossini have begun heading to Patna.
No doubt World Bank has ranked Patna as the 2nd best city to start a business, next only to New Delhi.
Bihar is offering tremendous advantages to new businesses in terms of Government Assistance,Easily available lands, cheap labour and proximity to raw materials and power.If this trend continues for another 5-6 years, Patna is destined to be the next metropolis of the country
Patna airport is connected to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Ranchi. It’s categorised as a restricted international airport with customs facilities to receive international chartered flights. The economy of Patna has seen sustained growth. In particular the economy has been spurred by growth in fast moving consumer goods along with Green Revolution businesses.
Lalit Kishore, managing director of Lotto Licensee Sportslifestyle Pvt Lt, says the city’s great business proposition inspired them to take an instant step to open two stores in just a year’s time and one of them is in the mall.
“We had been present in Patna through the distribution network for a few years and we received a good response. Seeing the performance, we opened up two stores subsequently,” he said.
Built in Pataliputra colony, P&M has retail shops, Big Bazaar, a four-screen multiplex, food court and plenty of parking space.
The four-screen multiplex, opened by Cinepolis, a Mexican cinema chain, runs 22 shows a day including Hollywood, Bollywood and regional movies and the tickets are priced at Rs.100 for morning shows and at Rs.160 and Rs.180 for the rest of the day.
The hotspot among youngsters is the Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), an ideal rendezvous for youngsters, especially couples who have a place to sit and spend some quality time.
“The idea behind the mall was to try and bring the best practices here. Malls have been in India for the past 12 years, but in Bihar this was still unknown territory. So the whole idea was to open the mall and bring good things to the place,” said Prakash Jha, who also plans to open one in Jamshedpur in Jharkhand.
“There are a large number of working women emerging and therefore people not only know about fashion but also express themselves in a better way. There are also incomes to back changing tastes.
“We are satisfied with the business. The mall has been well received and we are certainly thinking of increasing the reach. Dussehra and Diwali are termed grand festivals in Patna; so we are going to see business increasing like never before,” Chand said.
“People are really excited about the first mall in the state. During daytime youngsters, mostly students, flock the shopping arena, but after six in the evening, you get to see a lot of family crowd trickling in,” Prashant Kumar said.
“Yes, I feel that business will evolve in cities like Patna because the sense of fashion is really growing. There is a good scope for expansion. Though we do not have an immediate plan to open a store, we will be considering the option sooner,” said Anubhav Jain, director of jewellery brand Silverline.
