Adlabs plans to double screens by fiscal-end

Adlabs Cinemas, part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, is looking to double its number of screens across the country.

The cinema exhibition company, presently owning 74 screens, and is expecting to meet the target by the end of fiscal 2007-08 itself.

Refusing to give a set number of screens targeted, Tushar Dhingra, COO, Adlabs Cinemas said, "We are hoping to double the number of screens by the end of this fiscal. Presently we have 74 screens at 20 locations in the country."

The company, recently, opened a 5-screen multiplex at Ahmedabad, marking its foray in Gujarat.

Dhingra added that Adlabs Cinemas would be looking to set up multiplexes in almost all of the major cities in Gujarat. The multiplex at Ahmedabad features a luxurious 46-seater screen called Ebony Lounge, which is priced anything between Rs 150-350 depending on show timings.

"This is the only other Ebony Lounge screen in India after Mumbai. This itself shows how serious we are about Gujarat as a potential market," said Dhingra, adding that 12 more Ebony Lounges are expected to be set up in the country.

The company invests around Rs 1.2 crore to Rs 2 crore per screen for its cinema exhibition business.

Adlabs Cinemas also owns two Imax screens in the country, one each in Delhi and Mumbai. However, sources say that the company is looking at the possibility of shutting down its Imax business gradually due to the lack of Imax format films in the country.

"We are not keen to extend our Imax business in the near future," stated Dhingra.