By Quaid Najmi

Mumbai, March 21 (IANS) In a major initiative, the Maharashtra government has bowed to a long-pending demand of the Indian film industry - permitting free shootings of films and tele-serials on all its premises across the state, as per an official announcement.

Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) President Abhay Sinha said that the state government issued the orders on March 16 to the effect, which has been widely welcomed by the film fraternity.

"Now, no fees shall be levied for carrying out shooting on any government or semi-government lands, locales and buildings anywhere in the state for films, documentaries, teleserials or even advertisements, by any film-makers from anywhere in India," Sinha told IANS.

However, the concession will not apply to the famed Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari in Mumbai and the Chitranagari in Kolhapur, where the regular charges for all types of shootings shall be applicable.

Continuing its ease of doing business even for the film industry, the government has implemented a 'single window scheme' (SWC), for any shooting proposals for state properties submitted by any producers for any language film from anywhere in India.

"Through this SWC, we can freely shoot anywhere in the state... This will showcase Maharashtra in a big way, indirectly boost tourism and allied sector, plus help boost the image of the state, its people, culture and picturesque locations," smiled Sinha.

Earlier, the producers had to shell out minimum Rs 40,000-Rs 50,000 for a day's shoot at any government locations which would be a direct saving, but presently only state-owned places have been opened, with hopes that even Centre-owned premises here may also follow suit.

"All government, semi-government, local self-government bodies, aided institutions, corporations, etc. should provide free of charge for shooting movies, televisions, advertisements, and commercials in other languages, including Marathi and foreign languages," said an official order.

Certain government departments have enacted laws specifying charges for filming activities which shall be changed in the next session of the Maharashtra Legislature.

However, though there will be no fees for shooting, a nominal security deposit will have to be paid with each application – Rs 40,000 for commercials, Rs 100,000 for teleserials and Rs 250,000 for feature films.

This is to ensure that after the shooting, the premises are left clean and in case of any damage to the public properties, it will be recovered from the security deposit.

Sinha explained that on an average, 500 feature films are made in India each year in multiple languages, and more than 100 are produced in Mumbai alone.

Officials said that Mumbai has over 500 production houses, 250 theatres and multiplexes, and 150 cinema halls which provide huge employment through a well-established ecosystem for the expensive film production processes.

Through the SWC, the Maharashtra Film, Theatre and Cultural Development Corporation earns around Rs 8-10 crore per annum through filming process activities.

Bollywood circles say many places in the state, including beaches, forts, lakes, forests, historical monuments, memorials, sanctuaries, skyscrapers of Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, promenades, mega-infrastructure sites or bridges, etc. are popular among film-makers, depending on their requirements.

Presently, free filming on government properties is allowed in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh gives certain concessions to local producers, while Maharashtra is contemplating subsidies to Marathi film production, as part of the larger strategy to make the state a "global film destination".