Budget 2019: Single Window Clearance For Indian Filmmakers

New Delhi: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday announced that there will be a single window clearances for Indian filmmakers for smooth shooting of films.

While presenting the Interim Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha, he said: "Entertainment industry is a major employment generator. To promote the entertainment industry, there will be single window clearance to ease shooting of films. "This was earlier available only to foreigners (and) is now going to be made available to Indian filmmakers as well." Goyal also said that the government will include anti-camcording provisions in the Cinematography Act to control piracy.

Experts said that if implemented well this could provide a major boost for the film industry as it will reduce costs and encourage Indian film makers to shoot in India instead of opting for foreign locales.

Jehil Thakkar, Head –Media & Entertainment and Partner at Deloitte India said, that it was a significant move. It can take as much as much as 3-4 months to get all the clearances to shoot films and this escalates production budgets. If implemented well, this will help in increasing the speed to market for films as well as reduce the working capital for film makers.”

The government said that regulatory provisions for single window clearance for ease of shooting films will rely more on self-declaration.

The finance ministry had earlier reduced GST on movie tickets below Rs 100 from 18 per cent to 12 per cent and above Rs 100 from 28 per cent to 18 per cent.

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