Several filmmakers and music companies have evinced interest in the proposed new film city near the upcoming Noida International Airport and have met top officials of the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), people privy to the development said.
The film city will come up in Sector 21, along the Yamuna Expressway, and the bids for its development are likely to be opened on March 31. However, according to those aware of the matter, despite it being a prestige project of the Uttar Pradesh government, it has drawn a tepid response from builders and developers. Hence, as a backup plan, the authority could consider developing the city on its own if it fails to find a suitable specialised player.
That is not to say that it is getting the cold shoulder.
“Bollywood filmmaker KC Bokadia met YEIDA CEO Arun Vir Singh on March 22 and showed interest in making a studio in the upcoming film city. Earlier, representatives from music and film production company T-Series had also met the CEO and sought details about the project,” a YEIDA official told MoneyControl.
He said that global music and filmmaking companies such as Sony, Fox, and Universal have also shown interest in the project.
He said that at the meeting Bokadia expressed his wish to buy a plot and develop a film studio there. He also sought to understand the mechanism of the project development.
The official added that several other representatives from the film fraternity have also met the CEO and evinced their interest in the project.
“Some big filmmakers and representatives of music and film companies also met Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath during his visit to Mumbai ahead of the UP Global Investors Summit. So we are hopeful about the success of the project,” the official said.
A pet project of Adityanath’s, the new film city is planned on an area of 1,000 acres in YEIDA Sector 21 and will be 6 km from the upcoming international airport in Jewar and 12 km from the Eastern Peripheral Expressway.
YEIDA CEO Singh in an interview to MoneyControl had earlier said that if the response towards the project remains lukewarm, the authority may think of allotting plots in fragments to filmmakers and firms belonging to the sector.
According to officials, YEIDA has been exploring three models to develop the project: public-private partnership, the authority going it alone, or awarding it to another single entity.
Property consultancy CBRE South Asia was on December 14, 2020, selected to make the detailed project report (DPR) of the proposed film city, which will offer a number of features, including pre and post-production facilities and film tourism. It will also have space for creative media art production, music dubbing studios, editing studios, VFX studios, movie premiere arenas, film festival arenas, a film museum, and a theme park.
It will also have hotels and retail and commercial offices. The Uttar Pradesh government had, in February 2023, approved its Film Policy 2023, under which several types of subsidies have been provisioned. A subsidy of 50 percent of the cost will be given if films are made in Awadhi, Braj, Bundeli or Bhojpuri languages. For films in English, Hindi or other languages, the subsidy amount will be 25 percent of the cost.
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Similarly, the policy also has a provision to provide a maximum of Rs 1 crore subsidy for films having more than half of the shoot days in Uttar Pradesh.
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