India increases filming incentives to 40% and increases cap

India has improved considerably incentives to film in the country. The Indian federal government will reimburse up to 40% of eligible production expenses, up from the 30% level announced when the incentives were implemented. revealed at Cannes last year.

The maximum limit for reimbursement has also been significantly raised from a maximum of INR 25 million ($300,000) to INR 300 million ($3.5 million). There is now an additional 5% bonus for significant Indian content.

International productions that have been granted shooting permission (for documentaries only) by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of External Affairs of India after April 1, 2022 will be eligible for this incentive scheme. The Incentives will be disbursed in two stages, intermediate and final. The final disbursement claim can be made once the project is complete in India. Incentives will be provided upon recommendation of a Special Incentive Evaluation Committee. The Film Facilitation Bureau created under the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) is executing this incentive scheme.

Announcing the enhanced incentives at the inauguration of the 54th International Film Festival of India, Goa, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting of India Anurag Thakur said, “This paradigm shift in incentivizing film production serves as a testament to India’s commitment and support for artistic expression and reinforces our position as a preferred destination for filmmaking endeavours.”

“This step will give further impetus to India’s efforts to attract medium and big budget international film projects to the country. The announcement is also part of efforts to rationalize foreign film productions and ensure ease of doing business in India,” the ministry added in a statement.

At the festival’s inauguration, Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit was recognized for her contribution to Indian cinema in the presence of several of her industry colleagues including Sunny Deol, Karan Johar, Shahid Kapoor, Shriya Saran, Nushratt Bharucha, Pankaj Tripathi , Shantanu Moitra, Shreya Ghoshal. and Sukhwinder Singh.

Earlier, at the inauguration of Film Bazaar, South Asia’s largest film market, Google Country Director Sanjay Gupta, Thakur and NFDC CEO Prithul Kumar launched an online exhibition on Hindi cinema, which includes 120 selected stories, 5,000 images and more than 1,500 videos, posters and songs.