KidZania India enters Delhi

KidZania, the global chain of role-play centres for children, will invest over US$15 million in a facility in Delhi-NCR, CEO Sanjeev Kumar, has said.

“The project funding will be done through 70 per cent equity and 30 per cent debt, Kumar said.

The new KidZania will be located on a 147-acre facility in Noida and will open in 2016.

The Kidzania India franchise rights are owned by Imagination Edutainment. Singapore-based KidZ Inc, whose shareholders are Comcraft Group, Xander Group and Maxfield Management, owns 74 per cent of the franchise and actor Shah Rukh Khan the remaining 26 per cent.

“We are very bullish about the Delhi NCR market. While we will be targeting kids between four and 14 years and their parents residing in Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon and we feel there is a great potential in the surrounding cities of Sonipat, Panipat, Mathura, Agra and Meerut.

“Our feasibility report has also shown interest of inbound tourists and school groups from Punjab and Haryana. We are confident of hosting 600,000+ visitors in the first year,” said Kumar.

The indoor theme-park, built-to-scale across three levels, will be spread over nearly 100,000 sqft and have a capacity for 1800 visitors a day – 65 per cent children and 35 per cent adults.

The KidZania Delhi operation will follow on from the successful Mumbai destination which has now hosted 700,000 children in the last two years.

But this one will feature new zones, including an underground archaeology facility, a stadium and a hanging aircraft at the entrance.

There are now 20 KidZanias, operating in cities including London, Dubai, Jeddah, Lisbon, Tokyo and Santa Fe.

KidZania Delhi facility has signed on brands including Parle-G for a biscuit factory, Bajaj Electricals for a culinary school and an energy conservation hub, Kellogg’s for a cereal factory, Big Bazaar for a supermarket, and E-Zone for an electronics store.