Jharkhand’s film policy one of the most progressive in India: Sunil Barnwal

Ranchi (By our correspondent): Jharkhand has one of the most progressive film policies in India, said Dr. Sunil Kumar Barnwal, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Secretary, Department of Information and Public Relations, Government of Jharkhand. With the new film policy unveiled in 2015, the state is witnessing a rush of filmmakers from all over India, especially regional languages, he
said.

Dr. Barnwal was addressing a press conference at the 49th International Film Festival of India at Panaji, Goa. Jharkhand has been chosen as the State in Focus at IFFI this year. This is the first time that IFFI has started a State Focus segment. Bestowed
with rich mineral deposits ranging from coal to gold, the state is known as the mineral capital of India, accounting for 40% of the country’s mineral wealth. But the other aspects like hills, waterfalls, water dams, forests, wildlife and religious places in Jharkhand which have rich potential are not yet explored, the Secretary pointed out. “The state has 30% of the geographical area covered by dense forests. There are many scenic waterfalls ranging from 2 metres to several feet high,” he said. Through the film policy, the state targets to attract the attention of people to the film industry and invites them to come, see and explore the embedded treasure of Jharkhand he added.

The Secretary also explained the features of Jharkhand’s film policy, such as incentives and subsidies for films shot in Jharkhand, training for film technicians, tax exemptions and a single window system for granting sanctions. According to the policy, films made in Jharkhand’s local languages will be given a grant of maximum 50% of the total costs and those made in Hindi, Bangla, Odia and other regional languages will be given a grant amounting to 25% of the total cost. Films shot in Jharkhand for more than half of
the total shooting days of the film will get Rs. 1 crore and those shot for two-thirds of total days will get Rs. 2 crore. Once a grant is
given for filmmaking in the state, further films shot in Jharkhand will get more incentives, Dr. Barnwal elaborated.