Govt to set up five core groups on film industry problems

New Delhi, July 29 (UNI) The Government today said it would set up five core groups to examine the various issues related to the film industry like piracy, taxes and export.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will have reports of these groups by mid-November so that it can finalise its view on these issues and put up the case to the Finance Ministry when consultation process for the next Budget begins.

The Government also said that it was trying to bring down the entertainment tax from the present average of 37 per cent to 25 per cent.

These announcemants were made by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi after a detailed interaction with the representatives of the film industry during which issues related to the present status of the film industry and efforts for its further growth and development were discussed at length.

He said the core groups will have representatives from the film industry, FICCI and the Ministry of Information&Broadcasting.

The groups will look into the issues of export of films (which will have inputs/coordination from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry also), piracy of films and film exhibition related issues such as multiplexes and cinema halls, promotion, development and preservation of archives, tax related concerns like uniformity in entertainment taxes and customs duties; and those pertaining to film festivals in India and abroad.

The Minister said the next two rounds of consultations to get the regional perspective would be held at Chennai and Kolkata.

Earlier, in his opening remarks, Mr Dasmunsi said the film industry needs support and impetus in the exhibition sector in view of the inadequate number of cinema halls/screens in the country.

He said that though the entertainment tax had been considerably brought down from 70 per cent to an average of 37 per cent, the Ministry was in touch with the State Governments to have it further scaled down to 25 per cent.

The meeting discussed issues related to taxation and customs duty, certification issues, promoting export of films from India and facilitating shooting of Indian films abroad.

Piracy of films was one of the major issues, which drew comments from most of the participants as they stressed the need for effective anti-piracy laws.

Majority of the participants felt that latest technology could be brought in to check the menace of piracy, which was one of the major causes of financial loss to filmmakers. Post-production facilities and promotion of good cinema and animation films were amongst the suggestions put forth by some members.

The meeting was attended by a cross section of industry organisations as well as Members of Parliament from the film industry including Minister of State for Mines Dr T Subbarami Reddy, Mr Shatrughan Sinha, Mr Dharmendra, Mr Shyam Benegal, besides several prominent film personalities and senior officers from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

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