India finalises co-production treaty with Italy

India had finalised a co-production treaty with Italy for films, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Jaipal Reddy on Wednesday said.

India had finalised a co-production treaty with Italy for films and had received a proposal from a US-based financial firm for underwriting of loans for Indian film makers, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Jaipal Reddy today said.

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Adressing reporters on the second day of the International Film Festival of India here, Reddy said the treaty would be signed shortly after an approval by both the governments.

The government was also considering signing similar treaties with France, Germany, Canada and UK. "Such treaties would enable film makers to avail of concessions extended to them in those countries, besides boosting the film making process", he added.

We had also received a proposal from Richard Soames of Film Finances Incorporation to underwrite loans for Indian films. The firm had earlier underwritten loans to the tune of USD one billion for US films, he said.

"The proposal will be taken up for consideration and examined in depth. A decision will be taken after due consultations with public financial institutions like IDBI," he said.

The loans would be underwritten only after a detailed examination of the track record of a film maker and various other factors, Reddy added.

The government was also keen to organise a single-window clearance for foreign film makers keen to shoot in Indian locales. "A lot of foreign film makers want to use our locales for their natural beauty and historical attributes. However, the cumbersome bureaucratic procedure often hinder the process", he said.

The single-window clearance would help in mititaging the problem. "We have spoken to the Home Ministery for clearances", he said.

The government was also keen to set a time-frame of three weeks for clearing of applications of foreign film-makers seeking permission to shoot in the country. The clearances include both locale and script clearance.

The locale clearance was necessary since some of them were sensitive areas from the point of security and environment.