Explained: Will Uttar Pradesh CM's plan to set up 'film city' be a hit or a flop?

New Delhi, Sep 23: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has come up with an ambitious plan to set up a "film city" and invited several filmmakers to come to the state.

According to reports, CM Adityanath announced 1,000 acres for the same in Gautam Budh Nagar by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), where a Dedicated Infotainment Zone would be set up with world-class civil, public and technological facilities.

On September 18, CM Adityanath had said that the country's "biggest and most beautiful film city" would be set up in Gautam Budh Nagar district. Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar had called on him on Sunday - and on Tuesday, several film personalities including Anupam Kher, Udit Narayan, and Satish Kaushik attended a meeting with Adityanath.

After the announcement, what were the steps taken by the govt?

On September 18, while conducting a review meeting of Meerut Division, Chief Minister Adityanath directed officials to find land in the jurisdiction of Noida, Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, or the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority to set up a "film city". The move attracted lot of attention and drew reactions from the film industry.

Officials were quick to act, and "Expression of Interest" was invited the same day for the appointment of an agency to evaluate options for setting up "Film City or Infotainment zone". Interested agencies were told to submit their applications in the next 15 days.

How were the previous attempts to establish a "film city" in Uttar Pradesh go?

In 2015, two film cities were proposed in the state, and agreements were signed in the presence of then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, director-producer Boney Kapoor, and BJP MP from Gorakhpur Ravi Kishan. One of these film cities was proposed to come up along the Lucknow-Agra Expressway, and the other in the Trans Ganga City project in Unnao.

The government had offered about 300 acres of land to each of these two proposed film cities. They were proposed to come up on Public-Private Partnership model, with a proposed investment of about Rs 700 crore. However, neither of the two projects saw the light of the day.