The Administrative Council (AC), which met here Thursday under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, approved Jammu and Kashmir Film Policy-2024.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor; Atal Dulloo, Chief Secretary; Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.
The Policy aims to position J&K as a hub of cinematic creativity and productivity. The approved policy will supersede the current Film Policy i.e., J&K Film Policy-2021.
The policy provides for time bound administrative assistance, setting up of Single Window Cell, facilitation for granting of permission for shooting films, package of financial assistance, promoting Government/Non-Government Organizations associated with publicity of cinema and striving to create nationally competitive infrastructure for film making.
The policy provides for bodies like Film Development Council, J&K Film Division, Script Screening Committee, Divisional Location Permission Committee, Film Development Fund and mechanism for branding and promotion of activities by means of film festivals.
To ensure that a chunk of the film shooting for a film seeking subsidy from the UT Government, the criteria of a minimum of 20 days of shooting has been provided. The criteria for claiming subsidy for Films/ TV Serials/ Shows/Web Series etc. has also been notified in the policy.
The maximum subsidy in the regional languages of J&K will be Rs 1.25 crores.
A Film Development Fund shall be created from fiscal year 2024-25 with allocation of Rs. 500 crores (payable in next 05 years with an annual budgetary grant of Rs. 100 crores.) to be sourced from CAPEX budget for disbursement of subsidies/incentives. The minimum cost of production of the film shall be Rs.10 crores and it must be screened on minimum 25 screens across the country. For domiciles of J&K, the minimum cost of production of a film shall be Rs.50 lacs and it must be screened on minimum 3 screens. The in-eligible categories for subsidy have also been notified in the policy. The policy will have a positive impact on the economy in terms of generating employment and growth of film tourism. The policy will be valid for 05 years.
Meanwhile, the Administrative Council also approved extension of Amnesty Scheme-2022 upto 31-3-2025 in favour of Domestic Consumers of electricity.
The scheme provides for waving off 100% interest/surcharge on outstanding principal amount. In UT of J&K, the domestic consumer category comprises over 86% of JKPDD consumers and around 50% of total energy consumption in the UT is from the said category of the consumers.
However almost 30% of these Domestic consumers (Approx.5.50 lakh) in the said sector are either making staggered payments or have not made any payment towards their electricity bills primarily due to huge accumulation of outstanding power dues including late payment surcharges/interest which is leading to high commercial losses to JKPDD/ Discoms.
The Amnesty Scheme has resulted in the recovery of Rs. 235.58 crore from domestic consumers.The Domestic consumers shall be benefited by waiving off the surcharge amount and payments of principal amount in affordable installments (EMIs).
The Government/DISCOMS shall be able to recover the outstanding principal amount which shall result in decreasing the ARR/ACS gap and shall have a positive effect on lowering of AT&C losses too.