UP gears up for Film City, Swedish firm interested in investing Rs 10K cr

Two years after announcing a grand Film City to attract film producers to Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government has floated global bids for the development of the project near Noida. 

“The global bid will be closed on January 7. It’s not a plot bid. There is a consortium of developers which can come in. We have had extensive consultation with the stakeholders to understand the components that are needed. We have showcased the project globally as well and are hopeful that we would find an appropriate bidder,” says Arvind Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Infrastructure & Industrial Development, Uttar Pradesh. 

Kumar was speaking to e4m on the sidelines of the Mumbai roadshow of the UP government on Thursday ahead of the UP Global Investors Summit. The summit is slated to take place from February 10 to 12 in Lucknow. 

While Kumar didn’t reveal the details of bidders, sources in the UP government said a Swedish construction firm 'Serneke' has shown interest to invest Rs 10,000 crores in the project. 

Yogi Adityanath along with cabinet ministers Nand Kumar Nandi and Ravindra Jaiswal and senior bureaucrats were present on the occasion to invite investors for the summit. He will be meeting top industrialists before going back to Lucknow. 

Later in the evening, he met top film personalities like Boney Kapoor, Subhash Ghai, MP Ravi Kishan, and Sonu Nigam. Welcoming the film fraternity to UP, Adityanath, on Thursday, said “In the film policy of UP, arrangements will be made for 50 percent subsidy for the web series shot in the state and the government will work towards giving a rebate of 25 per cent on the cost for web films. We are going to set up a music institution in Hariharpur.”

“The government will soon unveil a new film policy with a single-window clearance system. The film city of Uttar Pradesh will be of global standards,” Adityanath said on Wednesday, after meeting actor Akshay Kumar in Mumbai.