Hyderabad City set to have highest no. of shopping malls

Hyderabad: The city at one point of time had the most number of cinema halls in the country. It would not be wrong to say that it is now gunning for new sobriquet of 'City with most number of malls.'

Speaking to The Hans India, Devender Reddy, chief city planner at Town Planning Wing of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), said "There are over 200 shopping malls in the city and permissions for 11 more multiplexes have been given." "New multiplexes are coming up in East, West and North zones, but there is no space in the Central zone in the city," he added.

The new generation wants to shop, dine and also watch a movie all in one single building and this has led to the mushrooming of multiplexes. The GHMC has given permission for 100 shopping malls in the last two years.

While multiplexes are coming up all over the city, there is no space left in the Central zone. The demand is so high that the civic body has given permissions to 12 multiplexes till April. According to sources, there are close to 80 more applications still pending.

With films being made for specific audience (read urban India), the demand for single screens has gone up. A conventional theatre can accommodate 250 to 300 people, but multiplexes can accommodate 100 to 120 people in one screen, and there are multiple screens.

Town planning wing generally gives permissions to multiplexes that are on 60-ft width roads and site should be a minimum of 3,000 square meters and 66% of the space must be provided for parking. The officials in the town planning wing say that permissions are not given to proposed buildings near junctions.