Around 1800-2000 films are made in a year at cost of Rs 25-30,000 crore: Govt

New Delhi: Around 1800-2000 films are made in India a year at a production cost of Rs 25-30,000 crore, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has informed Parliament.

It also said 46 countries have sought permission for shooting or animation or post production jobs in India for 261 projects with the United States (62) and the United Kingdom (41) topping the list.

These details were provided by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to questions raised by Sudheer Gupta, Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane and Ashok Chavan.

Murugan said international players have been increasingly investing in the Indian film industry and it is in the form of direct investment, co-productions and acquisitions and Distribution.

The India Cine Hub (ICH) provides a single window system for facilitating domestic and international film makers in India, he said.

Quoting industry reports, he said the Indian film industry is the largest in the world by the number of films produced annually, with total output ranging from 1,800 to 2,000 films per year in various Indian languages.

“The total annual expenditure on these films is estimated to be between Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 30,000 crore,” he said.

Since the India Cine Hub has been set up, 46 countries have sought permission for various activities related to filmmaking in the country.

After the US and the UK, Bangladesh filmmakers have sought permission for the highest number of 27 projects followed by France (19), Canada (14) and Germany (12).

To another question by Rajya Sabha MP V Sivadasan, Murugan said permission for 47 TV channels had been cancelled from 2020. While 14 channels’ licences were cancelled in 2020, it rose to 24 in 2021 and five and three in the next two years. This year so far, only one TV channel lost its licence.

According to the data tabled in Parliament, licences for 110 TV channels were approved from 2020 while licences for 269 were renewed. Murugan said licences for 34 were rejected during the period with 2024 accounting for the highest at 13.