Real estate major DLF is likely to invest about Rs 1,250 crore on expanding its multiplex business, DT Cinema. The plan is to add about 500 screens in the next four to five years.
”Currently, we are at a pre-operative stage with about seven screens. In another four to five years time the target is to have 500 screens across India,” DT Cinema CEO Kajal Aijaz said.
By September this year, two DT Cinema complexes in Delhi and one in Chandigarh will be operational. As many as 35 screens are expected to be functional in the next seven months.
Apart from north Indian cities, DT Cinema plans to set up multiplexes in Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Goa and Kolkata. The size of each multiplex is expected to be between 35,000 square feet to 90,000 square feet. On average, the investment ranges from Rs 3 to Rs 5 crore on each screen
DT Cinemas had set up its first multiplex at the DLF City Centre in Gurgaon, in March 2003. The multiplex industry is expected to rake in investments of close to Rs 1,200 crore in the coming two years. Aijaz said there is a shortage of about 40,000 screens in India.
According to a FICCI-PwC report, the media and entertainment industry in India is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18 per cent, to touch Rs 1 lakh crore by 2011.
It may be noted that DLF Group is about to ink the country’s largest-ever land deal, as it buys about 110 acres of land in west Delhi from DCM Sriram Group for Rs 1,750 crore. According to market sources, DLF will develop residential property on this land.
