India has significantly increased incentives for filming in the country. The Indian government will reimburse up to 40% of qualifying production expenditure, up from the 30% announced when the incentives were announced at Cannes last year.
The reimbursement limit has also been significantly increased from a maximum of INR25 million ($300,000) to INR300 million ($3.5 million). There is now an additional 5% bonus for significant Indian content.
International productions that receive a filming permit from India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of External Affairs (for documentaries only) after 1 April 2022 will be eligible for this incentive scheme. The incentives will be paid in two stages, interim and final. The final payment can be claimed after completion of the project in India. Incentives are granted on the recommendation of a Special Incentive Evaluation Committee.
Announcing the enhanced incentives at the inauguration of the 54th International Film Festival of India, Goa, India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said: “This paradigm shift in incentives for film production is a testament to India’s commitment and support for artistic expression and reinforces our position as a preferred destination for cinematic endeavours.”
“This move will give a further boost to India’s efforts to attract medium and large budget international film projects to the country. The announcement is also part of efforts to streamline foreign film production and ensure ease of doing business in India,” the ministry said in a statement.
At the opening of the festival, Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit was honoured 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.
