Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal held meeting with the members of state’s film fraternity today at Brahmaputra State Guest House here and discussed various important issues about development of Assamese film industry.
Implementation of State Film Policy was the focal point in the meeting among other topics, said a statement issued from CMO.
Saying that the state government is committed to bring the Film Policy to fruition at the earliest, the chief minister said that all stakeholders were being consulted while formulating the Policy and once implemented the Policy would help in creating infrastructure and facilitate growth of cinema in the state.
The chief minister was apprised by the director of cultural affairs Barnali Sarma that the proposed policy is at the finance department and all nuances were being studied for finalizing the Policy.
Chairman of Assam State Film (Finance and Development) Corporation Ltd. Jatin Bora informed that proposals for 35 cinema halls were received to be opened in the state.
He further said that by October this year five new movie halls would be opened while five old halls would be renovated.
The chief minister said that a seven member committee would also be formed with various stakeholders to examine feasibility of cinema hall locations and selecting beneficiaries for receiving government financial assistance for opening halls.
Highlighting Ease of Doing Business policy adopted by the state government to facilitate economic development of the state, the chief minister stressed on the need to adopt the policy and single window system to encourage investors to come forward to develop the infrastructure and other amenities for growth of film industry.
The issue of providing Rs 75 lakh grant to open cinema halls with seating capacity from 150-300 also came up for discussion and the chief minister directed the finance department to examine the viability.
The chief minister urged the film industry stakeholders to create films which can bring audiences to the halls and even transcend boundaries to entire South East Asia to capture the those film markets there.
He highlighted the positive environment brought forward by Act East Policy for regional trade and business in the SE Asia.