Regional cinema to benefit as govt plans Model State Cinema Regulation Rules

In what could prove to be a major game changer for India’s film industry, particularly regional cinema, the government is all set to introduce Model State Cinema Regulation Rules. An announcement to this effect was made by Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw during the 71st National Film Awards organised at Vigyan Bhawan.

Announcing the initiative, Vaishnaw said the primary objective of the Rules is to modernise outdated regulations and bring uniformity in the process of granting filmmaking approvals. “Every state has its own rules. Can we harmonise them? Can we simplify them? Just like the Prime Minister removed 1,500 archaic laws in the country, we need to create model state cinema regulation rules to streamline all aspects of film permissions,” he stated.

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The Minister further unveiled the government’s plan to boost the Make in India initiative for local manufacturing of film production equipment, including high-end cameras. “We are trying to start a new programme to ensure that equipment used in the film industry — such as large cameras and other key tools — is made in India,” he said.

Speaking about the expansion of the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), the Minister noted that the Mumbai-based institute, announced during the WAVES Summit in May, started with the first batch of students in August. A Rs 400-crore project, the IICT aims to strengthen the country’s creative industry as well as its entertainment and digital sectors.

“The first IICT, the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, is now functioning at the NFDC campus in Mumbai. Very soon, we will start the construction of the main campus in the Film City. It has a very beautiful design. I have sat in many rounds of its iterations. And it is going to be an amazing institution going forward,” the Minister added.

Presently, IICT is offering 18 courses in the AVGC-XR (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality) sector. The inaugural academic offering includes six specialised courses in Gaming, four courses in Post Production, and eight courses in Animation, Comics, and XR. These programmes have been meticulously designed in collaboration with top industry players to ensure students are equipped with the skills required to thrive in the ever-evolving creative technology landscape, the I&B Ministry had revealed in July.

Emphasising that the global creative industry is now turning to India rather than Indian creators moving abroad, the Minister said the government also envisions building a “live concert economy” backed by supportive policies and streamlined approvals, with a special focus on the middle class and the youth.

“For today’s middle classes, for the young generation, we have to make a big programme of live concert economy. Proper policy support will be there, uniform guidelines will be there, easy permissions will be there, and that will create another big wave in the ocean of the creator economy,” the Minister said.