FICCI FRAMES 2015, Part II

At the inaugural session of FICCI FRAMES 2015, the government of India held out the assurance that it would address upfront the challenges before the media and entertainment sector, such as emerging technologies giving way to new media platforms, great diversification of content, industry trying out new business and revenue models and the fact that today every youngster was keen on installing and using mobile phone applications.

“These are exciting times for the media and entertainment sector,” said Mr. J. S. Mathur, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. Mr. Mathur, however, cautioned that exciting times always come with challenges and assured a packed house that the new government was trying to meet these challenges. (All media and entertainment activities in the country come under the purview of the I & B Ministry).

Speaking about the Government’s vision for a digital India, Mr. Mathur said, “After the limited phase 1 and 2 of digitisation, the rollout for phase 3 and 4 that is going to cover the entire country, including rural India, was a major step forward with tremendous stakes for all stakeholders.” He called upon the industry to work together to ensure that the consumer gets the best out of this new development, while seeing that stakeholders also get their due.

Mr. Mathur also informed the gathering that FM radio expansion has received government’s approval. The first batch of phase 3 of radio e-auctions has been rolled out, covering 69 cities and 135 channels. The next phase will add another 1000-odd channels spread across the length and breadth of the country. Radio was a government monopoly till about 20 years ago, when it gradually allowed the private sector in, but only as 'no news, no politics and no live sports', channels.

Dr. Jyotsna Suri, President, FICCI, urged the government to undertake some critical initiatives towards the sector’s growth. These include expanding the net of co-production audio-visual agreements to include more countries--India’s Foreign Direct Investment regulations permit 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route in film production--augmenting cinema screen density in the country; bringing the process of broadcast digitisation to an efficient closure; a re-invented film commission to take over the process of Single Window Clearances for shooting, which should aim to work in a seamless fashion with state governments; and, finally, the process of subsuming all entertainment taxes into GST.

Ramesh Sippy, Co-Chair, FICCI Entertainment Committee and director of such classic films as Sholay and Shakti, said that the M&E sector has grown substantially over the years and holds a lot of promise for the future. Highlighting some of the initiatives that FICCI had undertaken to promote the sector, he said that co-production agreements have been signed with China and Canada; a proposal had been  sent to the I&B Ministry and Prasar Bharati to start dedicated channels for children; a proposal has been moved for setting up a National Centre of Excellence for Animation and Gaming in PPP mode; need to reduce tax on royalty; urging the I&B Ministry to push forward the Cinematograph Bill in Parliament; proposal to making India a teleport hub and  creating awareness amongst production houses to use the co-production treaties already in place with the UK, Italy, Australia, Canada and China. 

Kamal Haasan, top actor and film-maker from the South and Chairman, FICCI MBEC South, said that for the Indian M&E industry to grow the need was to penetrate rural India, which is home to two-thirds of the population. The media sector cannot afford to be complacent at this stage, and there was a need for innovative thinking, generation of quality content and refurbishing of businesses to stay relevant in the market. He said that all M&E platforms were now merging and the sector is one fraternity.

The audience was also treated to an interesting dialogue with Aamir Khan, Actor & Producer, who took questions from NDTV’s Editorial Director, Sonia Singh. The actor disclosed that he never looks at the ‘business aspect’ when he is working on a film. He simply gets immersed in the story. “Indians take to hardware very quickly,” he said, referring to the rapid sales of the latest mobile phones and computers. “However, the issue lies in software.”  Khan was also of the view that the media and entertainment industry has a large role to play in the social evolution of the country. “Sure, our job is to entertain, but does it stop there?” He felt that his industry should introspect about the content they are creating, to influence minds and infuse in young India with qualities that we can all be proud of. In his opinion, there is a huge opportunity for the media to transform India, more important than money and numbers. Being obsessed with numbers can stifle creativity.