The event was organized by the information and broadcasting and tourism ministries in Mumbai on Monday.
Roushni Sarkar
The ministries of tourism and information and broadcasting (I&B) on Monday held a symposium at Taj Lands End, Mumbai to promote film tourism by exploring opportunities to conduct film shoots in all states.
The secretary, ministry of tourism, Arvind Singh, who was present at the event, said, “State governments should consider establishing a film promotion office, preferably in chief minister’s office, for timely shooting permissions.”
Singh said that these offices can coordinate with various departments and institutions to the permissions processed on time. He also stressed these offices’ authority to intervene and sort out issues at the local level wherever required.
Stating that India’s landscapes, seasons, colours, wildlife and — more importantly — culture and heritage "along with the availability of world-beating technicians" make the country an ideal location for film shoots and increase the potential for film tourism, he said, "There are several bottlenecks and 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 film shooting destination.”
According to him, the ministry of tourism has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the I&&B ministry and the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) to promote the cinema of India as a sub-brand of Incredible India at various international film festivals such as the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Goa and Cannes Film Festival to develop synergy between tourism and the film industry and to provide a platform to enable partnerships between the Indian and global film industry.
Addressing the symposium, Apurva Chandra, secretary, I&B mnistry, said that 14 states have come out with a film facilitation policy, and that the ministry is planning to come out with a draft Model Film Policy for other states to adopt. Staing that “18 states are giving incentives too for filmmaking”, he said, “More than incentives, ease of shooting and ease of clearances are very important,” he said.
Delegates from Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Maharashtra were present at the event to showcase initiatives with regard to ease of filming as well as opportunities available in their jurisdictions.
Explaining why Indian films are being shot outside the country, Chandra said, "Despite the cost being much lower in India, filmmakers feel that getting permissions for shooting in India is costly whereas it is easier to shoot abroad. And for that, we have to look at ourselves. Especially state governments since it is they who give permission."
He added that the purpose of the symposium is to understand what the film industry wants from each state with regards to shooting for projects.