Ceran to invest $100 mn in Hyd firm Gradiente 

Hyderabad: German firm Ceran International Energy Group (CIEG) GmBH has expressed its interest to invest $100 million (nearly Rs 674 crore) in Gradiente Infotainment Limited, a Hyderabad-based publicly-listed media and entertainment company, to part fund its expansion.

The investment is part of Ceran’s $10-billion plan for India, including setting up geothermal energy, solar, hydro-electrical power plants, construction of a refinery with a capacity of 400,000 barrels per day, an airport and a water treatment plant, Gradiente said in a release on Friday.

“We are also planning to set up a subsidiary company with Ceran International Energy to execute projects in India,” said Gradiente Chairman and Managing Vimal Raj Mathur.

Gradiente has forayed into the Tollywood film industry by co-producing the feature film Gud Morning. It has lined up three movies for co-production, for two of which it is negotiating with leading directors from Bollywood for exclusive multiplex release. These would be produced with modest budgets of between Rs 5 crore and Rs 6 crore, according to Mathur.

“Looking beyond the national boundaries, we have also initiated contact with digital media entertainment houses in Hong Kong and Singapore for joint venture projects. We expect to forge lucrative tie-ups with some entities shortly,” he added.

Stating that social media marketing was another big-ticket area on Gradiente’s to-do list, he said the company was also expanding its core advertising portfolio and was foraying into financial advertising, having handled two public issues already.

“We are positive about launching, completing and establishing a solid presence in all these activities within the next three years with an investment of Rs 100 crore, which will be funded through internal accruals, preferential allotments and long-term debt funding from HNIs and institutions, both in India and abroad,” he said.