Producers Guild Of India Is Delighted With Government’s Efforts To Combat Piracy: Budget 2019

With the gradual recognition of the Indian film industry as an important contributor to economic growth by the Government of India, many appropriate legislative steps are being taken in order to encourage the industry. The latest step was the key announcements that were made pertaining to the film industry, during the presentation of the Union Budget on Friday.

Piyush Goyal, who presented the budget in the absence of Finance Minister Arun Jaitely, announced that a single window clearance would be made available to all Indian filmmakers, a provision which was previously available only to foreign filmmakers. He also stressed on the importance of fighting piracy by mentioning Vicky Kaushal's Uri: The Surgical Strike. The film had made efforts to check its illegal downloads on piracy sites. Goyal announced the introduction of an anti-camcording provision in the Cinematography Act to fight piracy.

The Producers Guild of India was delighted by these new steps and its President Siddharth Roy Kapur issued an official statement which read, "We are delighted that the immense contribution of Indian cinema towards employment generation in the country has been acknowledged and applauded in Parliament during the presentation of the Union Budget. The announcement of a single-window clearance mechanism for Indian film makers filming within India is a significant step and has the potential to play a huge role in boosting tourism in the country. The amendments in the Anti Camcording provisions will support the industry's growth by curtailing illegal recordings of films in cinema halls and will go a long way towards reducing piracy."

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar also reacted positively to the budget and tweeted saying, "Welcome move by @narendramodi Government for initiating Anti-Camcording provision in the Cinematography Act to fight Piracy and Single window clearance for Film Shootings.This will help the Film Industry in a Big Way.🙏
#Budget2019" (sic).

In December last year, the government announced that GST on movie tickets will be slashed from 18 per cent to 12 per cent for tickets costing up to Rs. 100. For tickets costing over Rs. 100, GST will be slashed from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. These positive steps towards acknowledging and treating the entertainment world as an industry which can make big contributions to the country's economy, employment generation, and tourism has been happening in part due to a series of meetings held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and prominent actors and filmmakers from Bollywood.

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