Budget 2019: Producers Guild lauds government's moves towards boosting entertainment industry

New Delhi: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday announced a single-window clearance for film shootings and anti-camcording provisions to control piracy, in a bid to promote the entertainment industry. [caption id=“attachment_6008031” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Producers Guild of India has issued a statement applauding government’s measures to boost entertainment industry. Twitter[/caption] The single-window clearance system was earlier available only to foreign filmmakers shooting in India, and now it is being extended to Indian filmmakers also, he said. “To promote the entertainment industry, single-window clearance for ease of shooting films, earlier available only to the foreign filmmakers is now going to be available to the Indian film makers as well,” Goyal said while presenting the Interim Budget for 2019-20. “We would also introduce anti-camcording provisions in the cinematograph act to control the piracy,” Goyal added. He further added that the regulatory provisions in this regard would rely more on “self-declarations”. The Producers Guild of India issued a statement applauding the move from the government. It said that the step of single-window clearance would aid in boosting tourism in the country. [caption id=“attachment_6007981” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Statement from Producers Guild of India[/caption] The entertainment industry is a major employment generator and the move would help the filmmakers from all languages, he said. According to a recent joint study by Assocham and PwC, the Indian media and entertainment industry is estimated to touch $52,683 million (around Rs 3.73 lakh crore) by 2022 led by increasing disposable income, population and content consumption across formats. Besides, the traditional media such as TV and cinema, new-age digital platforms such as over-the-top (OTT) services would also play a key role. By 2022, the Indian video OTT market will be among the top-10 markets globally with a market size of $823 million (Rs 5,363 crore), the study had said. (With inputs from Press Trust of India)