Jamshedpur shoppers who have always travelled to Calcutta, Delhi or Mumbai for trendy apparel and lifestyle brands can from September drive to P&M Hi Tech City Centre in Bistupur.
Brands such as Pantaloons, Wills Lifestyle, Tommy Hilfiger, Vero Moda, Jack & Jones, Meena Bazaar and others will entice shoppers when P&M Hi Tech City Centre, a joint venture of ace filmmaker Prakash Jha and Jamshedpur-based industrialist R.K. Agarwal, opens before this year's festive season.
Said to be the largest shopping mall in Jharkhand, P&M Hi Tech City Centre will expand in two phases, starting with upscale apparel and lifestyle items and completing the entire launch by this year-end.
"We do a soft launch before the Pujas because that's a big festival here. In the first phase, we shall come up with apparel and lifestyle brands, majority of which Jamshedpur has never witnessed. We are also in talks with renowned fashion designers interested to showcase their labels here. I hope people don't travel to Calcutta or Delhi for shopping anymore," said Sunil Agarwal, CEO, P&M Hi-tech Infrastructures Ltd.
"Entertainment zones like gaming and multiplex will be introduced in the second phase which is after three months from the launch date. We are just working day and night to finish the work," he added.
Though online shopping brings a world of brands to one's doorstep, nothing beats good old browse, touch and feel.
A self-confessed avid shopper, Jamshedpur entrepreneur-cum-social worker Poonam Vig said she hoped for high-end brands right in her hometown. "I am looking forward to really exclusive saris," she said.
For value-for-money shopping, Big Bazaar will set up its second outlet in Jamshedpur at the mall in its first phase.
Also, if shopping makes people hungry, in the first phase, food lovers will have outlets of Pizza Hut, Chat Street, Dosa Plaza, Kadhai Kitchen, Chinese Delight and Kwality, in addition to ice cream parlours.
For filmmaker Jha, this will be his second mall after P&M Mall in Patna that has been running successfully for the past six years. Built at an area of about 600,000sqft, P&M Hi Tech City Centre will boast 150 shops (units), a lavish food court, a gaming zone for kids and a six-screen multiplex. Jha will introduce his multiplex chain called PJP Cinemas in this Jamshedpur mall, his Patna one having Cinepolis.
At PJP Cinemas, six screens will have a collective seating capacity of 1,100, the smallest starting with 180 seats, depending on the kind of film to be screened.
The mall will boast of an automated parking facility for 500 cars in the basement. Also, the building has been designed in such a way that allows in maximum sunlight to save electricity.
