Legoland, Sea Life may come to India soon

Merlin Entertainments Plc, which is opening its popular wax museum Madame Tussauds in India later this year, is in talks with developers to bring some of its other brands, including Legoland Discovery Centre and Sea Life to the country soon, said two people aware of the development.

Legoland Discovery Centres are indoor attractions based on the LEGO bricks. Sea Life is an aquarium, which has floor-toceiling tanks, winding tunnels and bubble with displays of fish, sharks and sea horses.

Merlin executives have met leading developers, including the Unitech Group (developer of Entertainment City, Noida) and also mall owners such as Runwal Group in Mumbai, which operates RCity and RMall, according to one of the two people.

“Merlin Entertainments is always looking to expand its business across the globe, and India being the potential hub gives us unmatched opportunities and promising returns for future ventures,” said Anshul Jain, general manager and director, Merlin Entertainments India Pvt Ltd, without sharing specific plans.

Earlier this month, the company announced an investment of 50 million pounds in India over the next 10 years.

Currently, it is in advanced talks with Unitech’s Entertainment City for setting up Legoland Discovery Centre over 50-70,000 sq ft, said a second person who did not want to be identified.

“We have earmarked 1.5 million sq ft of space at Entertainment City in Noida, for which we are in talks with global operators for indoor theme parks, snow park and aquarium. The aquarium will be by a Singapore-based firm,” said Munish Baldev, retail head, Unitech Group.

RMall is looking at new concepts, said Amaan Faikh, CEO, malls, Runwal Group.

The entertainment sector in malls has a market size of ₹8,000 crore and is growing at 25%, said Harminder Sahni, MD, Wazir Advisors, a consulting firm.