Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Friday announced that the Delhi NCR outlet of edutainment theme park KidZania, in which he has a share, will open for public in May.
Built on an investment of around Rs.100 crore, KidZania Delhi NCR is a standalone structure spanning 96,000 square feet across three floors. It is the second outlet of KidZania in India, with Mumbai being the first one to open in the country in 2013.
"I saw one of their (KidZania's) outlets and since then from the heart I felt that something like this should be opened in our country also.
"My whole though process as an actor, as an entertainer, as a producer has always been inclined towards providing something in terms of education and entertainment in a different way for the children of our country and this is a big step towards that. So I feel fortunate to be a part of it," said Shah Rukh, who has 26 percent stakes in the Delhi NCR outlet, at the event to announce the new venture.
The theme park is made to educate children in an innovative way making them participate in over 90 role-playing activities based on replicas of real world industries and services including entertainment, airline, automobile, retail, restaurants among others.
The KidZania India franchise rights are owned by Imagination Edutainment Pvt. Ltd. The Singapore-based KidZ Inc, whose share holders are Comcraft group, Xander group and Maxfeild Management, owns the rest 74 percent of the Delhi NCR franchise.
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"KidZania is a global edutainment theme park and is the fastest growing concept of its time in the world. Today we have 21 KidZania across 18 countries. In 2016 itself, we will have three more KidZania openings across the globe in Singapore, Busan and Delhi NCR," said KidZania director and CEO Sanjeev Kumar.
"Our philosophy is to get ready for a better world and to provide a fun and learning experience that will appeal to the children to make a positive impact on the society," he added.
At the event, Shah Rukh, who has three children - Aryan, Suhana and AbRam - also hoisted the KidZania flag.