India’s film business is set for a period of sustained growth according to new research by Dodona.
Dodona forecasts that production investment will rise 70% by 2006 and that the Indian film industry’s export revenues will rise 120% over the same period. The researcher also predicts that foreign films’ theatrical rentals in India will also rise steeply during this period.
The Hindi-language ‘Bollywood’ industry based in Mumbai is Indian’s largest film industry, releasing over 240 films in 2000. The Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam, Kannada and Bengali language industries are also significant, between them producing over 500 films in 2000.
The Indian government is taking steps to encourage the growth of the film industry in India. Entertainment taxes are being reduced, especially for new cinemas, and import duties on cinema equipment have also been cut. Dodona forecasts a multiplex boom in India but cautions that this will, in practice, largely mean “multiscreening of existing large halls by their Indian owners, together with construction of relatively small new multiplex cinemas”. The cinema equipment business in India is already benefiting as local operators seek to upgrade their venues.
