VR Ltd, the Rs 100-crore film exhibition company based out of Delhi, is on to new directions. One, the seven-year old company will expand its chain of exhibition theatres across the country with gusto. And two, it will push into the lucrative but high-risk commercial distribution of mainstream Hindi films through PVR Pictures, its 100 per cent subsidiary set up two years ago.

The process was set in motion almost a year ago when in March 2003, PVR Ltd raised equity from ICICI Venture to support its Rs 130-crore expansion plan. ICICI Venture�s Rs 38 crore in PVR Ltd represents the most significant investment in the Indian cinema industry in recent times. (The rest of the Rs 130 crore will come by way of debt funding and internal accruals.) ... more