How cool is the idea of entertainment if it also leads to generating employmentIJ Sounds too good to be true really. Well, YVR Kumar, CMD of Y Screens, came up with this novel idea of building mini-theatres in tier 3 and tier 4 towns and districts across Andhra Pradesh and Telengana with the primary objective of providing entertainment along with employment opportunities.
“I discussed this idea with Chandrababu Naidu and he endorsed my idea. That set my idea into motion and I began working on this project. We were fortunate that the first Y Screen at Vijayawada was inaugurated by him on 6th June 2016,” says Kumar.
The smaller towns lack basic facilities and infrastructure and this is going to give them a boost. He hopes to generate employment to nearly 50,000 people directly or indirectly through this project.
“This will regulate migration of rural population to urban areas. We are looking at having additional services around the theatres like health kiosks, ATMs, food courts, branded retail outlets etc,” he added. The theatres have a capacity of 150 to 199 seats. The area around the theatres has a food court, an ATM machine, a cyber cafe - all of which generate employment opportunities. “The first two theatres came up near a vacant space in Vijaywada bus station and are doing well. Till date agreements have been done in over 15 such projects and four more theatres are under construction.
The cost of one theatre is approximately Rs 4 crore and the first phase will require an investment of Rs 65 crore. We are doing these under three models- joint venture, franchise and land leasing model,” says Kumar adding that they target having 125 such centres across Telengana and 136 in Andhra Pradesh by the end of 2022. Y Screens is optimistic of spreading its presence in other states as well. Karnataka and TN too will see the emergence of such theatres there.