Zee Interactive plans 35 centres by year-end

KOLKATA: Zee Interactive Learning Systems (ZILS) plans to open 35 centres across the country this year, A K Khetan, CEO, said on Monday. It currently has seven centres across Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The market for kids care, largely untapped and controlled by unorganised players, has immense potential in India and is expected to touch Rs 10,000 crore by 2010, fuelled by a growth in the services sector, said Khetan.

According to him, the concept of franchised childcare centres was launched in response to a need gap in society. The aim is to provide state-of-the-art childcare programmes to cater to the urban markets.

“The Rs 10,000 crore market is just the tip of the iceberg…wherever there is a cluster of women, this business is sure to take off, whether in the metros or small towns,” Khetan averred.

On the company’s decision to enter the childcare space, Khetan pointed out that the contribution of the services sector was a mere 5% during the 1950-90s, which has since climbed to around 55% even as the GDP grows at 8-9%.

The services sector, unlike sectors like agriculture, mining and manufacturing, has no gender bias. But, if the society needs women to contribute equally with men, proper childcare infrastructure is of utmost necessity, said Khetan.

In the West and Japan, there are around 2.3 million childcare providers responsible for 12 million children under five in childcare every week.

KIDZCARE provides programmes designed to support a child’s physical, cognitive, language, creative and socio-emotional development through three models - Super, Deluxe and Classic.

The centres also have affiliations with reputed nursing homes/ hospitals and menu designed by nutritionists. There are programmes for every level, ranging from six months to eight-year-olds as well as for pre-teens (8-12 year-olds).

The investment per centre ranges from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 45 lakh,depending on the city, area andcategory, etc.