New Delhi, Oct 24 (IANS): Malls across the National Capital Region have witnessed over 30 percent decline in footfalls as high inflation and interest rates and economic slowdown have dampened the festive spirit of Delhiites, a survey said Thursday.

According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), Delhi has topped the survey with a 33 percent decline in footfalls followed by Ahmedabad at 31 percent and Chennai at 30 percent.

Over 600 managers, representatives of malls' management, strategist, marketers and supervisors in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata were interviewed for the survey.

Overall, malls across several Indian metropolitans are expected to see a 40 percent drop in footfalls.

"The trend is on expected lines as the economic recovery is rather slow and consumer confidence low," said D.S. Rawat, secretary general of Assocham.

According to the commerce chamber, around 250-300 malls came up across the country over the last two years but 70-80 per cent of the spaces in these malls are lying vacant.

Also close to 50 percent of the total mall space in the nine cities is vacant and NCR topped the list with 55 percent of space in the malls remaining unoccupied.

"Vacancy levels are due to poor location, poor design and poor parking facilities," said the survey.

The sharpest decline in mall rental values was recorded again in the NCR followed by Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai.