A wholly-owned subsidiary of Essel Packaging, E-Citi Entertainment, has been floated to carry out the project with a view to "providing the consumer the best entertainment experience".

E-Citi Entertainment chief executive officer S Das said at least 10-12 multiplexes will be made operational in the next one-and-a-half years. "We hope to break even in two to three years after making the multiplexes operational," he added.

The company is now trying to work out a development plan with land-owners so that initial capital investments are kept at a minimum. The land-owners will have to develop the property, and once the development is completed, Essel Packaging will give the landlord a 16 per cent return on his investments for nine years.

The newly-formed company has undertaken construction at Andheri (north-west Mumbai) and Chembur(north-east Mumbai). E-Citi expects to make the multiplexes at Andheri and Ahmedabad operational by February 2001, Das said. The company has acquired property from the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) to set up multiplexes in Baroda and Ahmedabad.

For part-funding the project, the company has approached financial institutions, including the Housing Development Finance Corporation, Industrial Development Bank of India, and ICICI. E-Citi is likely to mop up around Rs 200 crore for the initial phase.

The company also proposes to develop multiplexes in Pune, Nagpur, Delhi, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Assam, and Manipur. On the drawing board are also plans to operate multiplexes at Thekkady and Munnar in Kerala.

E-Citi Entertainment (I) director Ashok Goel said each multiplex would cost between Rs 10 crore and Rs 30 crore depending upon the site and facilities.The multiplexes will include state-of-the-art air-conditioned cinema houses (around four to six depending upon the spaceavailable), food courts, restaurants, pubs, game parlours, bowling alleys, music stores, gift shops, florists, and a confectionery.

"Our idea is to provide complete family entertainment under one roof. Our ultimate objective is to become the market leader in out-of-home entertainment," Goel said.

Das said the company was keen to meet the needs for entertainment and "re-define the traditional means of entertainment by providing customer-focused services." It also wants to create world-class brands in food, entertainment, and retailing. Ruling out a joint venture with a foreign partner in developing the multiplexes in India, Das said: "We have a passion for entertainment, and want to create an ambience for customers locally."

Company officials say that the Zee group decided to venture into the entertainment industry after a series of surveys. According to the findings of the surveys, eating out, movies and entertainment, books and music account for 30 per cent of the consumer spend. "These activities willbe taken care of by E-Citi centres," Das added.