Mumbai, Jul 4 (PTI) Subhash Chandra-led Essel Group's education arm, Zee Learn, plans to double its animation study centre ZICA to 50 this fiscal, a top company official said.
ZICA (Zee Institute of Creative Arts), presently, has 25 centres that provide certificate and diploma courses in animation, gaming, VFX, and 3D Graphics.
"India is poised to be the next animation hub and the industry is likely to touch Rs 4,500 crore by 2012. However, it is still one per cent of the global market that is pegged at Rs 4,50,000 crore approximately. We plan to open 25 more centres this fiscal," Zee Learn's Business (Head), Prateek Aneja, told PTI here today.
Aneja said that the centres would be opened on a franchise basis at an investment of Rs 10 crore. The centres will be coming up in smaller towns, he said.
Zee Learn expects around Rs 100 crore sales from ZICA in the next three to four years, he said.
Its current earnings is a mere Rs eight crore.
"We expect our bottomline to grow more than 50 per cent this fiscal. In the next three to four years, we hope to be a Rs 100 crore entity," Aneja said.
Asked on the opportunities and scope in the animation and gaming industry, Aneja said that the sector has gained a lot of significance in the country in the past few years due to low-cost and skilled labour.
"The Indian industry needs around three lakh skilled animators to work for companies like ADAG, Tata and about 1,500 odd production houses across the country but currently we have around 30,000 only," Aneja said, adding that more and more students are now opting for such courses.
Aneja said ZICA provides 100 per cent campus placements with starting salaries of Rs three to four lakh per annum.
Currently, the Indian industry outsources about 75 per cent of its animation content from overseas and the trend is likely to continue for at least the next two to three years, he said.