The Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) is close to a deal with Universal Studios of the US to build a $1.5-billion, 400-acre theme park and resort. The company is scouting for locations at Mumbai and Delhi.
Reliance Big Entertainment and Universal, a unit of General Electric’s NBC Universal, could reach a deal this year. The talks, according to sources, have been on for over three months, while land is being looked for already.
Amit Khanna, chairman of Reliance Big Entertainment, declined to comment when Business Standard queried him on the issue. It is understood that R-ADAG would own the venture but pay royalty and fees to Universal for using content linked to popular movies such as Jaws, E.T., Spider-Man and the Harry Potter franchise.
The park would look much like Universal’s parks in Los Angeles, Orlando (Florida) and Japan, with a variety of roller coasters and rides, shops with movie-related merchandise and nearby hotels.
R-ADAG signed a 50:50 joint venture last year with London-based Great Wheel Corporation, intellectual patent holders of the London Eye, a giant ferris wheel which is the most popular paid tourist attraction in Britain. It has a plan to develop and operate similar structures in five cities in India, one of these being expected around Delhi. The total investment, excluding land, is estimated at $500 million (Rs 2,335 crore).
There has been also speculation of Reliance talking to Subhash Chandra’s Zee group to buy out Essel World, which both sides have denied.
