Indian community oriented lifestyle shopping centre developer Virtuous Retail has opened a flagship centre – the VR Surat.

VR Surat, which is said to be India’s first and Surat’s only integrated retail city centre and community lifestyle destination opened its doors with two special art initiatives – Paresh Maity’s ‘Jal Tapi’ and ‘Dumas Art Project’.

The ‘Jal Tapi’ is a life-sized boat installation created using the actual sailing vessel or ‘Hodhi’ that won the city’s annual Magdalla Boat Race in 2013. While the Dumas Art Project at VR Surat features the red sign ‘I Love Dumas Square’, and a 240-foot mural titled ‘Streat’.

Sprawling across six lakh (600,000) sqft, VR Surat’s Phase I opening will see the launch of more than 50 brands, many of which will be debuting in Surat and Gujarat. The centre is anchored by Shoppers Stop, Westside and INOX.

“We believe Surat’s local economy will get a boost with the world class infrastructure at VR Surat that has been made available for retailers, travel and tour operators, event organisers, and the community at large,” said Virtuous Retail marketing director Anupam Yog.

The Xander Group-sponsored Virtuous Retail has pan-India portfolio that includes prime city centre locations in Surat, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata.