India is among top twenty nations of the world that have the strongest momentum in retail real estate index, global property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) said.

According to JLL’s latest report, India ranks second among top twenty nations with the strongest impetus in retail real estate index, after China.

The JLL report, released on Wednesday, said, “Our Retail Real Estate Momentum Index identifies 20 markets with the strongest retail real estate momentum. In top positions are China, India, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil and Vietnam.”

India lagged behind China because of smaller presence of global retailers plus weaker prospects for investment in the sector. However, the report also noted that India is yet to open the retail market fully to international retailers. If the country allows foreign direct investment in the sector, the presence of international retail groups will improve drastically.

China and India topped the Index, mainly because of their encouraging demographics, quick rate of urbanization, strong consumption growth and considerable growth of modern retail infrastructures.

The JLL report also predicted that annual investment volumes in retail real estate sector would jump from hit US$110 billion in 2012 to US$180 billion worldwide by 2020, thanks to soaring cross-border activity.