Indian film processing giant, Adlabs has partnered with Singapore's GDC Technology to install digital projectors in 400 Indian cinemas by April 2004, with a target of creating 1,500 e-cinemas in India by 2007.

GDC Technology is part of the Global Digital Creations Holdings Group. It was set up in 2000 by Nanyang Technological University professor Man-Nang Chong, now based in Hong Kong.

The company will retrofit 400 cinemas across India with GDC's DSR Servers and DLP digital projectors. The first cinema, in Mumbai, will start operating under the new format by the end of March.

In addition, the partnership will provide a service to convert 35mm prints of Indian-made films into digital format for electronic distribution.

Adlabs Films Ltd is the largest film processing laboratory in India with a 20-year history. A public limited company listed in the BSE and NSE, it expanded into the exhibition business with India's first IMAX theatre, featuring the largest dome in the world - along with a four-screen multiplex in Mumbai, which opened in 2001.