I&B Ministry to promote Indian Film Industry to attract tourists

Sai Nikesh | The Dollar Business

Arun Jaitley, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), Government of India, on Friday chaired a Consultative Committee meeting of the I&B Ministry to discuss the issue of “India as a soft power –As a Filming Destination”. Speaking at the meet, Jaitley said, “Promoting India as a soft power and filming destination will not only project the growth of Indian Film Industry, but also boosts Indian Tourism sector, by drawing huge tourist inflows into India from the foreign nations. The Minister further said that in order to make India a filming destination or a soft power, there is a need to give a ‘Brand Push’ to the concept by promoting key features of India’s professional ability like skills, human resources, diverse locales, filming support from institutional structures and core strengths of India’s Film industry. He further said that these should be promoted at the level of International Film Festivals and called for the simplification of procedures in this regard. In a presentation, the Ministry provided an overview of processes involved to promote filming in India with reference to the multi-pronged strategy adopted by the Ministry. The presentation focused on promotion of film festivals and film bazaars, co-production units, the proposed legislative framework and policy initiatives to promote skill development in the film industry.  In February 2012, the Ministry of Tourism and the I&B Ministry entered into a MoU to promote Indian Cinema, as a sub brand of “Incredible India” at various international film festivals and markets abroad. The then-signed MoU also aims to develop synergy between tourism and the film industry and to provide a platform for enabling partnerships between the Indian and global film industry.  According to the Los Angeles India Film Council report, 2014, a strong production tax regime will ensure the Rs 9200 crore Indian Film Industry as the most competitive on the world stage. The Indian motion picture and Television Industry contributed $8.1 billion to the country’s economy, equating to 0.5% of GDP, in 2013, says the report.  

This article was published on February 13, 2015.