Film city will come up in Bengaluru, but not at Roerich estate, says B S Yediyurappa

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday said a film city would come up in Bengaluru and that the government has identified 150 acres for the purpose, while clarifying that it won’t come up at the Roerich and Devika Rani Estate.

Responding to a question by Congress member Jayamala in the Legislative Council, Yediyurappa said he will take a delegation of leaders from the film industry to the area identified. “If they agree, we will begin the work this year. I have allocated Rs 500 crore for the project in the present budget and the government is ready to respond to the demands of the industry,” he said.

The chief minister said that following the high court order, the government has taken back the 347.12-acre grassland in Hesaraghatta from the film development corporation. The court has ordered that it should be maintained as a green zone. The land belongs to the animal husbandry department, he said.

Sandesh Nagaraj of JD(S) noted that Rs 36.75 lakh has been spent for preparing a feasibility report on setting up a film city in Mysuru. Therefore, he suggested, the government can continue with the earlier plan.

In response, Yediyurappa said there was no intention of setting up the film city in Hesarghatta, Mysuru, Ramanagaram or the Tataguni Estate. “Any discussion on the issue will only lead to confusion.”

The state government, in its 2015-16 budget, proposed to set up a film city on a 108.06-acre land in Mysuru under a public-private partnership. Later, the project was transferred to the tourism department to include in the project a host of activities, including hotel, entertainment and tourism development.

Later, the 2018-19 budget announced that the film city would come up in Ramanagaram and the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board was told to identify land for the same.