Mumbai: Assam is highlighting itself as the most ideal, filmmaking-friendly State in India by offering single-window clearances and support for shooting movies, alongside tourism to its various attractions. The State has recorded a huge 511 percent growth in domestic and 763 percent growth in foreign tourists.
During a tourism roadshow held in Mumbai recentlyt The Assam Minister for Public Health Engineering, Skill Development Employment & Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Jayanta Malla Baruah noted that Assam, which is connected to entire country and has excellent road infrastructure and peaceful conditions, is already well-known for its spiritual, wildlife, river and adventure tourism.
Showcasing the state as an ideal destination for leisure, adventure, wildlife and film-shooting, Baruah said much effort was being put into attracting filmmakers for shooting their films amidst the State’s various sites that continued to be crowd-pullers for the huge numbers of tourists in India and abroad.
“We are putting a lot of effort into promoting film tourism in the state and making it the most film tourism-friendly state by facilitating shooting permissions with single-window clearances for film projects and providing necessary support to attract filmmakers,” he said.
The Assam officials present at the roadshow included: ATDC Chairman Rituparna Baruah, Vice-Chairman, Additional Chief Secretary to the Govt of Assam – Tourism Department, Secretary to the Govt of Assam – Tourism Department, and others.
Kumar Padmapani Bora, IRS, Secretary, Tourism and Managing Director of Assam Tourism Development Corporation, noted that Assam’s tourism sector recorded 511 % and 763 % growth in domestic and foreign tourists’ inflow respectively in 2022.
Highlighting the State’s New Tourism Policy with special focus on EoDB and facilitating single window clearance for Film Tourism, he said “We are going to implement the policy aggressively and promote Assam as the ultimate Film Tourism destination in consultation with the film fraternity and tourism stakeholders.”
“While Assam’s New Tourism Policy 2022 has been prepared in consultation with World Bank and a constant endeavour towards promoting private investments in the tourism sector, the government has also signed mega hospitality projects with renowned groups like Tata, Hyatt in places like Kaziranga, Manas etc,” he said, adding that the State has recently granted Industry status to the Tourism sector since it would be a major boost for private investments into the State.
Renowned Indian Actor Adil Hussain lauded the Assam Government in taking the much-needed initiative for putting Assam on the country’s “Film Shooting Tourism Destination” map.
Expressing hope that Assam becomes the “go-to” destination for Film Tourism while also showcasing itself to larger global audiences, Hussain also urged the Hindi Film Industry and all OTT Platforms to “keenly” explore the untouched natural beauty and the rich culture of Assam for their film productions.
Earlier, the roadshow began with a video presentation that provided an overview of Assam’s tourism opportunities amidst the state’s vibrant culture and unique biodiversity including its pristine waters, forests, mountains and rivers. The event also witnessed discussions on issues related to sustainable development and conservation of natural resources in Assam.
A panel discussion was held later on “Assam as a promising film tourism destination” and included panellists like: Ms. Shobha Sant, Head Content Alliances, Jio Studios; Vaibhav Modi, Group Head Ad Sales – VAOO, Mumbai; Jinesh Shah – Head, Originals, Roy Kapur Films; Mahesh Manjrekar, Indian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. Sumeet Kapahi, Director, Abundantia Entertainment; Abhimanyu Ray, Casting Director; Papon, Padmakumar Narashimhamurthy, Film Director, Writer; Partha S Mahanta, – DIG (Admin); Sanjive Narain – Producer and Karan Oberoi.
Chunky Panday, Patralekha and other film personalities were also present at the event, while goodwill video messages were sent by Varun Dhawan, Raj Kumar Rao and John Abraham.
Assam has launched a “state-of-the-art” website of Assam Tourism as single point contact for inbound tourists and which also highlights facilities of online bookings of hotels, safaries etc. The State is also one of the few such states that has granted industry status to its Tourism sector.
