As you all might already know, the 2023 edition of the International Film Festival of Goa aka IIFA 2023 kicked off from 20th November and will conclude on 28th November in Panaji, Goa. Besides various international and Indian films being showcased at the reputed fest, an interesting announcement related to the film industry was also made by the Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports Anurag Singh Thakur on the opening day of the fest.
With the ambitious aim to attract more foreign filmmakers to this part of the world to shoot and produce their projects in India, the Indian government has now significantly increased the incentive for making foreign films in India to 40%.
This means that whatever expenses are incurred during foreign film production in India, 40% incentive would be provided subject to a cap / maximum limit of Rs.30 crores for the project. Previously, this incentive percentage was 30% and the maximum limit was Rs.2.5 crores. Moreover, an additional bonus of 5% will be given provided that the foreign film project has significant Indian content in it.
Considering its vast and varied landscape and multi-ethnic cultures, India has no doubt immense potential for big-ticket foreign film projects being produced in the country. Earlier, many Hollywood films have been shot in India. The list includes a host of popular films like ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, ‘The Darjeeling Limited’, ‘Life of Pie’, ‘The Bourne Supremacy’, and ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’, to name a few.
And the recently announced foreign film production incentive scheme is not just expected to benefit traditional foreign film production houses but also the new-age streaming companies such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video which are always looking for content which appeals to global OTT audiences. So, now, after the incentive announcement, not only foreign filmmakers will have a good opportunity to utilize the scheme, but Indian artists, technicians, actors and filmmakers will have the opportunity for creative collaborations in a bigger way.