Retail trust Nexus has acquired Diamond Plaza on Jessore Road in Nagerbazar for ₹347.5 crore, signalling the entry of India’s largest mall operator into the Calcutta market.

The mall, which began commercial operations in 2012, has a gross leasable area of 244,000 square feet.

Nexus said the acquisition presents an opportunity to expand its presence in eastern India, with an upside arising from optimal asset utilisation.

The project was developed by the Diamond group, spearheaded by Vivek Kajaria. Nexus hopes to complete the transaction within four months. In FY25, the mall earned a revenue of ₹40.1 crore.

For the private equity firm Blackstone-sponsored Nexus Select Trust, Diamond Plaza will be the first mall asset in Calcutta, allowing the REIT to bolster its presence in eastern India, where it owns and operates a mall in Bhubaneswar.

In December 2025, Nexus officials said the REIT was conducting due diligence on three properties in the East and hoped to close the transaction by the end of this year.

Nexus sponsor Blackstone, however, owns South City, the largest mall in Calcutta and one of the top 10 malls in the country. However, the property remains under the ownership purview of publicly listed Nexus.

The acquisition allows Nexus, which has been scouting for multiple opportunities in Bengal and the east, to enter the Calcutta market which has not seen new mall capacity built for years.

The total completed mall space in the city is estimated to be 1.63 million square feet, with 98 per cent occupancy. Lack of empty space prevents new retailers from finding space in city malls or existing ones from expanding.

However, the tight supply will ease when Phoenix Mall on Diamond Harbour Road, with 1 million square feet space becomes operational by 2027.

Office space demand up

Calcutta witnessed 125 per cent growth in office space leasing, property consultancy Knight Frank said, adding that the city also saw the highest rental increase across major cities it surveyed.

Office space absorption in the January-March quarter stood at 0.4 million square feet, led by flexspace operators and domestic companies.

Average transacted rent stood at ₹48.3 per square foot, up from ₹41.8 per square foot.

Another property consultancy, CBRE, also signalled strong office space absorption momentum in Calcutta, driven by small sized deals.

However, back offices of foreign companies, which drive office space demand and job creation in India, remained conspicuously absent from the city market.