Govt announces sops for foreign film shooting in India at Cannes event

(From left) Ricky Kej, Vani Tripathi, R. Madhavan, Prasoon Joshi, Anurag Thakur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Shekhar Kapur pose for photographers upon arrival at the opening ceremony and the premiere of the film 'Final Cut' at the 75th international film festival, Cannes. (Image: AP)

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur announced two schemes to incentivise the shooting of foreign films and foreign co-productions with India during the inauguration of the India Pavilion at Cannes Film Market ‘Marche du Film.

Official co-productions and international film production companies can claim a reimbursement of up to 30 percent on qualifying expenditure in India subject to a maximum of Rs 2 crore, said Thakur.

The project must have been granted a 'co-production' status by the Ministry of I&B and the participating countries under one of India’s official bi-lateral co-production treaties on audio-visual co-production. Projects that have been granted official co-production status after April 1, 2022, are eligible for the incentive.

He added that foreign films shooting in India can claim an additional 5 percent bonus up to a maximum of Rs 50 lakh ($65,000) as additional reimbursement would be granted for employing 15 percent or more manpower in India. "The schemes will provide an impetus to global collaborations with India and attract investment from foreign filmmakers and help promote India as a filming destination," the minister said.

To avail this scheme, international productions that have been granted shooting permission by MIB and the Ministry of External Affairs (for documentaries only) after April 1, 2022, shall be eligible.

The incentives will be disbursed in two stages --interim and final. The final disbursement claim can be made once the project is complete in India. Incentives will be provided on the recommendation of a Special Incentive Evaluation Committee.

On making India a favourite filming destination, Thakur said, “We have a strong intellectual property regime, and the digital medium now complements the other more established modes of consumption and dissemination such as theatres and movies. This has brought about a democratisation of consumer choice like never before, and our government is intent on preserving this via support to the creative industries.”

He also noted that the Indian government has started a film restoration project under the National Film Heritage Mission. As part of this drive, up to 2,200 movies across languages and genres will be restored.