Zee Interactive to start 35 Kidzcare centres this year

Zee Interactive Learning Systems Private Limited (ZILS), the Rs 30-crore education arm of Zee Network, is planning to scale up the number of its franchised 'Kidzcare' childcare centres in the country to 35 from the existing 10, by the end of this financial year.

The company launched its first centre in south India, at Hyderabad on Wednesday.

"Professional childcare has become a dire need in today's commercialised society, with increasing nuclear families, more working women and non-availability of reliable nannies. A mature industry in developed economies, it is gaining greater prominence in India now. Our Kidzcare initiative is well-poised to handle this untapped potential," Arun Khetan, CEO of Zee Interactive, said.

The childcare market in India is estimated to reach Rs 10,000 crore by 2010.

Stating that ZILS would capitalise on locations that have burgeoning BPO and IT activities, he said the company planned to open centres in cities like Pune, Noida, Gurgaon, Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

"However, our clear focus is on south India, where women form a larger proportion of the service sector. Of the 35 centre planned for this fiscal, around 20 would come up in south India," he added.

According to him, ZILS would invest around Rs 2 crore this fiscal in manpower, manpower training, provision of necessary equipment and play tools to franchisees and branding.