PVR to invest Rs 25cr in Gujarat

PVR Cinemas will be investing around Rs 25 crore in Gujarat for the financial year 2007-08. The entertainment company in cinema exhibition business will be utilising the investment to set up a minimum of one multiplex each at Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot.

Recently, PVR Cinemas launched PVR Talkies, a low-priced multiplex brand, in Vadodara. The company bought an existing multiplex, Deep Multiplex, for Rs 5 crore. The multiplex will be the first PVR multiplex in Gujarat and the first to be set up from an acquisition instead of a green-field project.

With tickets priced as low as Rs 40, the company is focussing on providing entertainment for families at below Rs 100 per seat.

Talking about the company's plans, Ashish Shukla, Chief Executive Officer said, "We will be setting up multiplexes of at least 6-7 screens in each of the four cities of Gujarat. It is, however, not yet decided whether we will be setting up PVR Talkies or PVR Cinemas, our high-priced multiplex."

PVR Cinemas is a multiplex brand priced at above Rs 100 and positioned at high-end localities in metros.

According to Shukla, an average investment on a typical PVR Cinemas multiplex comes to around Rs 2-2.5 crore per screen. While an average investment for PVR Talkies is around Rs 1-1.5 crore.

Shukla added that the company will also be setting up Food Union, PVR's food courts, at its multiplexes. "In phase one, we will be setting up these food courts at our multiplexes only. Later, in phase two, we will set them up independently. For this, we have tied up with food joints like Dominos, Blue Foods India, Cafe Coffee Day and others," informed Shukla, adding that these food courts will be of 11,000-12,000 sq.ft. on an average.