PVR Cinemas will invest close to ₹1,000 crore to open over 400 screen across India by 2020, says Gautam Dutta, Chief Executive Officer, PVR Cinemas.

Cities where new screens are planned include Chennai, Pune, Mysuru, Kota (Rajasthan), Hyderabad, Karnal (Haryana), Jammu, Bengaluru and Delhi. Chennai will get another 15 screen in 18 months.

“Each screen will involve an investment of close to ₹2.5 crore,” Dutta told BusinessLine in a telephonic interview today.

“The expansion will focus more on tier-II and tier-III cities,” he said.

After the launch of five screen multiplex at Grand Galada Centre mall in Chennai today, PVR Cinemas now has a total of 584 screens across 50 cities in 127 properties in the country. Tier-II and tier-III cities account for about 20 per cent right now.

According to Dutta, share from tier-II and tier-III cities are likely to increase in the coming years.

He said multiplex growth in metros is likely to saturate in the next couple of years. When that happens, Dutta feels it is the tier-II and tier III cities that will fuel the growth of multiplex industry.

“That is one of the reasons for expanding to smaller towns in the country,” he added. The company has four iMAX screen in India and will add five more in Bengaluru, Noida and Mumbai in coming months.

Virtual reality docks

In addition to screens, the company will install virtual reality docks in its cinemas at metros, where consumers can play VR games. First dock was launched in Noida and five more are in the pipeline, Dutta said. The company has tied-up with IT firm HP India for technology development. The service can be availed at ₹100 for 14 minutes.

The company registered revenue of ₹2,200 crore last fiscal with operating profit of ₹375 crore.

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