“I’m very fond of saying that my country has as diverse locations and post production facilities. You need only one visa to see it all for tourism and one visa for shooting,” said TCA Kalyani, Joint Secretary (Films), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, while speaking at the e-FICCI FRAMES Summit

TCA Kalyani, Joint Secretary (Films), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, said that the government will soon be announcing incentives under the champion services sector. “We are going to announce the SOPs for filming in India and we have got the Health Ministry’s clearance regarding the same,” she added.

Addressing the e-FICCI FRAMES Summit ‘The Economic Impact of the Media & Entertainment Sector: A post-COVID-19 Lens & The Way Forward’, Kalyani said that Media and Entertainment industry has always adopted a host of technological advancements. “We have a huge capacity for domestic consumption. In pre-COVID times, more than 2 million cinema tickets were sold on an average, daily. With social distancing norms, even half that number would be great for starting the business of film exhibition. There has also been a steady growth in content export, investment in production facilities and technology in animation, VFX, etc.,”she added.

Kalyani further said that the pandemic has appended all assumptions of usual business for the global economy, but it has only sharpened the market trends that were already visible before the health crisis, such as the increasing demand for digital services. For the Media and Entertainment industry, this means faster transition to digital mediums and more pressure to compete for consumers as well as for advertisers and subscription revenue, she stated.

She added that the incentives under the champion sector scheme will be open to not only film shooting but also for TV and web series filming. Foreign filming in India since 2016, Kalyani informed, has contributed nearly US $ 64 million with 76 completed productions so far.

“I’m very fond of saying that my country has as diverse locations, whatever you want to see in a film, whether it is the mountain, the river, the sea, the island, the desert the crowds and post production facilities, you name it, we have it and you need only one visa to see it all for tourism and one visa for shooting.”

Speaking about the internet revolutionizing the entertainment sector, Kalyani said that India has enabled digital transformation by increasing economic freedom for the traditional Media and Entertainment businesses to operate. They are also nudging the industry for a better quality of service. The best example for this is that the OTT segment has grown phenomenally during the pandemic, she added.

The Media and Entertainment sector through innovation consistently has the potential to create jobs, especially in new areas of animation, gaming, etc. “The government has allowed 100 percent FDI in film content productions. This sector has the potential to create thousands of jobs including opportunities for the skilled and semiskilled workers,” she said.

Citing the Prime Minister’s India Global Week 2020 address, where he said that India is laying a red carpet for all global companies to come and establish their presence here, Kalyani said that very few countries will offer the kind of opportunities that India does today. “We have opened doors for filming in the country, easing the permission process, a single film visa and we are also going to streamline and facilitate single window clearance systems,” she said.

“The M&E industry is one of the champion sectors, enabling the vision of our honorable Prime Minister to achieve a $5 trillion economy,” she said. “We will be announcing the incentives under the champion service sector shortly. India has enabled digital transformation by increasing economic freedom for the traditional M&E business,” she said.

“So opportunities exist for great visuals, well written scripts and award worthy acting, but what the Internet has taught us is that consumers want every type of story. The government has allowed hundred percent foreign direct investment in the filmic content productions. This sector has the potential to create thousands of jobs including opportunities for the unskilled and semi skilled workforce. The incentives under the champion sector scheme will be open not only to film shooting, but also for TV web series filming and foreign filming,” she said.