PVR to invest Rs 350cr for 200 screens

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
PVR Ltd, will be increasing the number of screens around the country from the current 50 to 200 in the next two years, investing Rs 350 crores in the expansion plan, Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, executive director of the company, said. Speaking to reporters at the inauguration of PVR's multiplex, Bijli said PVR Ltd, which recently completed its Rs 150-crore IPO, would be adding 25 screens to its chain by March.

"We will be funding the expansion using a 1:1 debt equity ratio. Each screen costs between Rs 1.5 crores-Rs two crores, depending on the location and the city," he said. Bijli said that PVR Ltd expects to post revenues of Rs 110 crores in 2005-06. The company's screens had admitted 65 lakh patrons between April-December 2005, the first nine months of the current fiscal.

He said PVR Ltd had inaugurated three screens at its multiplex here, while another two would be inaugurated in the next one month. The multiplex has a total of nearly 1,000 seats, he said, adding that it would screening a mix of Hindi, English and Telugu films.