Foreign film production increased to 40 percent of the expenses: Anurag Thakur

India will increase the incentive for foreign film production in the country to 40 percent of the expenses incurred with an increased cap limit of Rs.30 crore (exceeding 3.5 million US Dollars) said Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur at the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.

Earlier, the per project cap for the incentives was only Rs 2.5 Crore. An additional 5 percent percent bonus for Significant Indian Content (SIC).

According to Thakur, there was a need for a higher incentive to attract medium and big budget international projects to the country considering India’s size and vast potential.

“This paradigm shift in incentivising film production serves as a testament to India’s commitment and support for artistic expression and reinforces our position as a preferred destination for cinematic endeavours”, he said.

The Union Minister also announced a recruitment drive for the young minds who were selected in the '75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow,’. The '75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow,' now in its 3rd edition, was born in 2021 from the Prime Minister's vision to provide the youth with a platform to showcase their creative expression through the medium of cinema.

“This year, out of nearly 600 entries across 10 categories, 75 young filmmakers have been handpicked from 19 states, including remote areas like Bishnupur, Jagatsinghpur, and Sadarpur”, the Minister added.

The Minister also announced a new category of awards - Best Web Series (OTT) Category - being introduced in this edition of IFFI. Highlighting the new components in the festival, Thakur said that IFFI will acknowledge and honour the transformative role of original content creators in India, celebrating their contributions to employment and innovation.

The Minister in his inaugural speech highlighted that for the first time, IFFI has augmented the scope of Film Bazaar by introducing a well-curated ‘VFX & Tech Pavilion’ to showcase the latest innovations from the cinema world, and a documentary section to its co-production market to support non-fiction storytelling.

The Minister also touched upon several measures taken by the Government of India in the recent past to augment the media and entertainment sector in India.

“Recently, under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi ji, the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023, received approval from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. This legislation not only broadens the legal framework, shifting its focus beyond censorship to encompass copyright protection but also introduces rigorous measures against piracy”, he said.

“I strongly believe that, throughout its history, Cinema has captured and chiseled ideas, imagination and innovation such that it forms the driving force for peace, progress and prosperity in a world which is increasingly distressed with division,” he added.