India to create film production incentives

India will soon have a scheme of location shooting incentives that could help put the country, known for having one of the world’s largest film and entertainment industry, on the map for international film productions.

The scheme may be unveiled within weeks. The country is trying to create a rebate scheme that could give feature films shot in India a 30% discount.

Amit Khare, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said the government is likely to categorise the media and entertainment sector as one of a dozen “champion sectors” capable of delivering above-average growth.

While details are yet to be finalised, Khare said that qualifying production spends in India could enjoy a rebate of 30%, capped at INR 20 million (USD300,000) per film. The scheme would initially be endowed with USD7.5 million and be administered through the National Film Development Corp, which until recently has been focused mostly on grant schemes for Indian movies.

Khare said that rebate cash would be paid within three months of proof of the qualifying production spend. And in order to allow films to draw down some cash early while they are shooting, a partial-refund scheme may also be introduced.

India currently has 13 bilateral coproduction treaties. But Khare said that treaties only work well when there is local finance.

He finds India to be in competition with other countries for film shoots. He named Morocco, Malta and Thailand as territories with competing location attraction schemes.