TravTalk India Online Magazine
Requesting all states in India to encourage and incentivise film shoots in their region, Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, said that entertainment industry can in turn boost tourism.
Hazel Jain
The government will develop a draft Model Film Policy based on the film facilitation policies rolled out by 14 Indian states. This was announced recently at a symposium focused on film tourism in Mumbai. Two ministries – the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting – came together to discuss the issues and possible roadmap with the entertainment industry.
The symposium was jointly chaired by Arvind Singh, Secretary of Tourism alongside Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Singh said, “I request all states in India to establish film promotion offices that will help co-ordinate with all necessary departments to give permissions for film shoots on time. And of course develop film tourism policies if you don’t have them.”
Nine states made presentations to the film industry on possible locations and incentive schemes offered for shoots. This included Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Maharashtra. Also present at the event were Kamala Vardhana Rao, Director General, Ministry of Tourism; and Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism.
Incentives a state matter
Singh added, “The federal system of our governance makes such film incentives mostly a state subject and there are many states which actively encourage film tourism and are quite successful in this regard. The MoT recognises such efforts through the National Tourism Award given each year under the ‘Most Film Tourism Friendly State’ category.”
He suggested that state governments should consider establishing a film promotion office, preferably in the CM’s Office. “Accordingly, there is a need for the state governments to consider establishing a film promotion office at the highest level, preferable in the CM’s Office, which can coordinate with the various departments to get the permissions processed on time. The office should also have the authority to intervene and sort out issues at the local level wherever required, “Singh said.
Bottlenecks
Singh added, “There needs to be a concerted push.” This should be a two-pronged approach – one at the policy level by making it procedurally easy for the producers to shoot in India and the other with a promotional effort by making them aware of the vast potential of India as a shooting destination.”
The MoT has inked an MoU with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the NFDC, for promoting cinema of India as a sub brand of Incredible India at various international film festivals like the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Goa and the Cannes Film Festival to develop synergy between tourism and the film industry and to provide a platform for enabling partnerships between the Indian and global film industry. The government will come up with a model film policy and share it with states to help them adopt a policy document to facilitate more film making across India.
States play key role
Apurva Chandra spoke about the reasons behind Indian films being shot outside India. “Despite the cost being much lower in India, film makers feel that getting permission for shooting in India is costlier, whereas it is easier to shoot abroad. And for that, we have to look at ourselves, especially state governments. The States play a very big role in this, “he added.
