Gurgaon, paisa vasool?

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">With the Supreme Court imposing a ban on the clearance of commercial projects in the pipeline till such time as the Delhi government formulates a policy on parking space, </span><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Delhi Times </span><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">examines whether Gurgaon makes business sense...</span><br /><br />The incessant addition of apartments, malls and multiplexes notwithstanding, the initial flow of visitors to Gurgaon has slowed down.<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Delhi Times</span> finds out how greenback-friendly Gurgaon actually is.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Eateries in a soup</span>: Business is good for certain multi-brand retail stores at Guragon''s malls, but some standalone stores mostly remain empty through the week -- so much so, businessmen shutting down shop is a harsh reality. "Some outlets which did good business earlier are on the brink of closing down due to lack of business. If things don''t pick up soon, I plan to shut down one of my ventures in Gurgaon," reveals a restaurateur who runs a couple of eateries at DLF. Adds another restaurateur: "My speciality restaurant isn''t really doing good business. It is located in a mall, and with the overhead expenses being very high, I see no point in running it unless business picks up."<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Survival of the fittest multiplexes</span>: There are 13 cinema screens in DLF alone; additionally, the infrastructure is in place for another four screens in this area. Then, three screens are coming up in Palam Vihar. According to DT Cinemas director Pia Singh, there''s nothing alarming about the multiplex business. "If the customer is given a good cinematic product, he will be ready to commute for it. Movie-viewers are still driving in from Delhi and the turnout is good. The key word here is scale -- you can''t do business with just one multiplex; unless you have several screens, it doesn''t make business sense."<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Perception Vs Reality: </span>Sanjay Khullar, who''s in the hospitality business, feels that unless there are more people with spending power, shops and restaurants in Gurgaon are bound to suffer. "The average earning power of a young professional residing at DLF and its surrounding area is between Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000. The number of people going out for dinner or a night out on weekends is between 400 to 500 -- this figure can easily be accommodated by a handful of restaurants or shopping outlets. With so many eateries and shops concentrated in the area, there is surplus supply for limited demand. Consequently, the economics doesn''t work out." So, whatever happened to the lure of Gurgaon? Analyses a restaurateur: "In hind sight, the initial traffic of Delhiites to Gurgaon was about having a good time at malls, multiplexes and restaurants. That''s over now. This leaves us with residents of Gurgaon, for whom the supply of eateries here is more than the demand."<br /></div> </div>