The Film City project, which is to come up along the Yamuna Expressway, is likely to gain momentum as the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government has given in-principle approval to certain changes in the terms of the project with a view to attracting investors and production houses.
The key changes include an increment of the moratorium period from four to seven years, providing a direct lease of 90 years instead of 60 years, and a relaxation in the revenue-sharing model under which the concessionaire will have to share 5 percent of the revenue instead of a fixed annual premium of Rs 116 crore, officials privy to the development said.
They added that the project will be developed in three phases, and the third global tender to invite investors and production houses is likely to be floated by the end of this month.
These key modifications were given in-principle approval at a high-level meeting in Lucknow by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, where he also set a deadline of six months to implement the project on the ground.
The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) is helming the project and it had held numerous meetings with industry players. These suggestions were given by national and international production houses, filmmakers, and music companies, among others, during these meetings last month.
A senior YEIDA official said that the first major change in the terms of the project is that the government has decided to increase the time limit of the moratorium period to seven years from four years now.
"This will allow the company that will build the Film City not to share its revenue generated from the project with the government for a period of seven years. After the end of the moratorium period, the project will operate on a revenue-sharing model. The government has also extended the direct lease period from the initial 60 years to 90 years," the official said.
The government also decided to relax revenue sharing, allowing the concessionaire to opt for a revenue share of 5 percent instead of a fixed annual premium of Rs 116 crore.
These major changes come after the project failed to attract any bidders in the previous two global tenders. The first global tender for the film city was floated on November 22, 2021. The second was issued on October 17, 2022. The deadline was extended to February 14, 2023, and then February 28, 2023, and then again to March 31, 2023, but no bids were received.
The Film City is to be developed over 1,000 acres of land in YEIDA Sector 21, along the Yamuna Expressway. Earlier, it was envisaged to be built in one go. But as suggested by the investors, it will now be developed in three phases, with the first phase spread over 230 acres.
Officials said that these amendments will now be placed before a committee of secretaries (CoS), which will be headed by the chief secretary, for final approval, and then a request for proposal (RFP) will be made and sent to the state Cabinet for approval.
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