India has fewer movie screens per million people than peer economies

New additions, such as PVR's planned 200 screens a year, to bring country closer to parity; sharp rise in global cinema revenues expected by 2026

India has fewer screens than most other large economies, though recent additions would bring it closer to parity.

Multiplex chain PVR recently announced plans to add screens at the rate of 200 per year. The company’s joint managing director Sanjeev Kumar Bijli had earlier said the firm aims to reach small cities, ‘especially the southern and eastern parts of the country’. Data from the PVR quarterly report shows that as of January 2023, there are 314 and 51 PVR screens in southern and eastern India, respectively.

In 2021, India had six screens per million people, whereas China and Japan had 30 and