Super Bazar: Delhi's original mega store eyes a 21st-century reboot

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

The iconic Super Bazar near Connaught Place — once Delhi's pride and India's first superstore — may be on the verge of a revival, with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) initiating the process of hiring an advisor for its redevelopment. Super Bazar head office near Connaught Place. Operated by NDMC, the six-storey store had become a familiar landmark. (HT ARCHIVE)
On Thursday, the civic body's architecture department issued a public notice inviting bids for the selection of financial and transaction advisors for the redevelopment of three NDMC-owned properties — Super Bazar, Khan Market, and Yashwant Place. The proposed project is to be executed under a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
'NDMC proposes to select financial and technical advisors for redevelopment of properties belonging to NDMC located at Super Bazar, Khan Market and Yashwant Place in PPP mode. The eligible firms should be empaneled as transaction advisors with the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance,' the notice issued by the chief architect's office states.
A senior NDMC official said the initiative was in its early stages, but crucial groundwork had been laid. 'The Super Bazar building is now fully under the NDMC's control, after years of legal wrangling. A consultant will be appointed to explore redevelopment possibilities, assess costs, and help us optimise revenue generation from all three sites. Super Bazar is wholly owned by the council, while several properties in Khan Market and Yashwant Place also belong to the NDMC,' the official added.
More than just a building, Super Bazar was once a symbol of Delhi's modernising spirit. Inaugurated in 1966, in the shadow of the 1965 India-Pakistan war, it was envisioned by the Congress-led central government as a bulwark against inflation — a people's store that would keep prices under check. It sold everything from subsidised sugar to palm oil, vegetables to HMT watches, stationery to construction material, even transistors, and, when they eventually became available, computers.
Operated by the NDMC, the six-storey store on the Outer Circle of Connaught Place had become a familiar landmark.
But the glory was not to last. By the mid-1990s, the store began sinking under the weight of poor management, overstaffing, and outdated practices. It was finally shut in 2002. A 2018 report by the ministry of consumer affairs pinpointed the beginning of its decline to 1996, attributing the downfall to 'overstaffing, failure of management, inadequacy of working capital, and a lack of competitive approach'.
With the arrival of the city's first mall — Ansal Plaza — in 1999, and the swift embrace of mall culture that followed, Super Bazar slipped out of the collective memory of a rapidly globalising capital.
For over two decades, the now-decrepit building remained caught in a prolonged arbitration between the government and employee unions over closure and payment of dues. NDMC officials confirmed that this process has finally concluded, and the civic body has undisputed possession of the structure.
HT had reported about the neglected decrepit building and its history last year.
The building itself stands on land allotted in 1962 by the Centre's Land and Development Office (L&DO), with the condition that it be used for commercial purposes — specifically, a shopping centre. 'It is likely that the site will be used as a shopping complex even after redevelopment as its use is clearly marked in the master plan of Delhi,' an official said.
The scope of redevelopment at Khan Market and Yashwant Place will focus on NDMC-owned properties alone. Many units in these markets include shops at the ground level with residential quarters above, and a number of these continue to remain under NDMC ownership.
Sanjiv Mehra, president of the Khan Market Traders Association, noted that the properties owned by NDMC in the area include the PR Market and Lok Nayak Bhawan.