Noida Film City 2.0: Top companies make a beeline

In a bid to turn Noida into the country's tinsel town, the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh has announced an allocation of Rs 10,000 crore for the development of its Film City project. This is expected to create huge job opportunities and boost the entertainment industry in the State as well as in the country.

The proposed Film City, which is a public-private partnership project, is being developed by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) in collaboration with the State government and various private investors.

The project is expected to be developed on 1,000 acre of land in Sector 21 along the Yamuna Expressway, close to the upcoming super airport at Jewar. By 2024, the first phase of the project is expected to be ready while the final phase is expected to be over by 2029.

The Film City offers a number of features, including pre- and post-production facilities, as well as film tourism. The project aims at creating a state-of-the-art film and media infrastructure that includes film studios, sound stages, post-production facilities, outdoor shooting locations and other supporting facilities such as hotels, restaurants and recreational areas.

It will also have space for creative media art production, music dubbing studios, editing studios, VFX studios, movie premiere arenas, film festival arenas, a film museum and a theme park. The project is expected to attract both domestic and international filmmakers and production houses, thereby boosting the growth of the Indian film and media industry.

Several music companies and filmmakers have evinced interest and have met top YEIDA officials in this regard. Global music and filmmaking companies such as Sony, Fox and Universal have shown interest in the project.

YEIDA Chief Executive Arun Vir Singh had earlier said in an interview to MoneyControl that if the response towards the project remains lukewarm, the authority may think of allotting plots in fragments to filmmakers and firms belonging to the sector.

According to its officials, YEIDA has been exploring three models to develop the project: public-private partnership (PPP), the authority going it alone or awarding it to another single entity.

On December 14, 2020, property consultant CBRE South Asia was selected for making the detailed project report (DPR) of the proposed Film City. The DPR will serve as a blueprint for the development of the film city project and will guide the project's implementation.