Talwalkars eyeing 'healthy' growth in Uttar Pradesh

India’s listed fitness chain Talwalkars Better Value Fitness Limited has drawn up a major expansion plan for Uttar Pradesh. The company, which already has five centres in the state, plans to add another 10 to its kitty, in near future. Two new centres were launched today, in Lucknow.

“We will soon launch our maiden centres in Allahabad, Bareilly and complement our existing centre in Varanasi with another fitness club. We are also looking at opening four more centres in Lucknow,” the Chairman Madhukar Talwalkar told Business Standard here.

Mumbai-based Talwalkars debuted in the Indian stock markets in May 2010. Currently, it has a chain of over 100 modern gyms in over 50 cities and an active club of 1,00,000 members. It offers diverse services, including gyms, spas, aerobics and health counselling.

While the company is primarily present in metros, state capitals and other major cities, a new division known as Hi-Fi (Healthy India, Fit India) has been launched to focus on smaller towns and semi-urban centres. “With Hi-Fi, we want to reach the smaller towns and provide affordable fitness through the franchise route. These centres would be smaller in size and the capital investment would also be less,” the chairman informed. A typical Talwalkars centre entails investment of aboutRs 10 crore (excluding real estate costs), while a Hi-Fi centre, spreading over 1,500-2,500 sq ft, will involve an investment of Rs 40-80 lakh.

“We have already launched a Hi-Fi centre in Pune and plan to have a network of 300 such gyms in the next few years,” he added.