A week after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a meeting with film studio owners, producers and actors in Mumbai for his planned film city in Noida, the Maharashtra government has moved to sanction industry status to the film and entertainment sector. Amit Deshmukh, the State’s Cultural Affairs Minister, said the proposal would be discussed in a Cabinet meeting.
“The film and entertainment sector is rapidly growing in Maharashtra. It helps in employment generation as well as a number of self-employment opportunities. We will soon be bringing a proposal to extend industry status to this sector in the State Cabinet meeting,” Mr. Deshmukh said. The State government is also in the process of framing a policy for films, serials, OTT platforms as well as for the stage, documentaries, advertisements and traditional arts.
Manisha Verma, managing director, Maharashtra Film, Stage and Cultural Development Corporation, said, “There is a need to create a positive eco- system for the film and entertainment sector. It has tremendous scope for revenue and employment generation besides being an instrument of wielding India’s soft power and projecting our rich culture.”
She said a three-day webinar was held in November to seek inputs from stakeholders, industry experts and government departments on framing the policy. “On the basis of these deliberations and looking at best global practices and State policies, we have presented a policy framework to the minister and it will soon be presented to the government.”
A few States have already come up with such a policy. “We have no comprehensive policy for the sector. Our efforts are to bridge this gap and present a policy framework,” she said.
Securing the industry status will bring the sector a number of incentives such as availability of land and infrastructure, fixing of power tariff, and import of machinery. It will also make available unused MIDC land, provide property tax exemption, and create a specialised workforce through skill development and accredited courses at dedicated universities.
