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UP film city: Will it transform Noida’s realty market?

Priya Singh | 2024-03-16

With the Yamuna Expressway Authority firming up plans for the development of a proposed film city on a 1,000-acre site at Sector 21, we examine the impact it will have on real estate in the region
Even as plans are afoot to build India’s largest airport at the proposed site in Greater Noida’s Jewar, the Uttar Pradesh government has proposed to build a film city, in yet another attempt to make real estate in western UP on a par with financially successful cities like Mumbai. The state government has also proposed to develop a financial centre close by, on the lines of the GIFT City of Gujarat.
In fact, the bid for developing the Rs 10,000-crore film city will open on November 23, 2021, and the pre-bid conference is scheduled for December 8, 2021.

“The bid for the development of Rs 10,000 crore film city will open on 23 November, pre-bid will be done on 8 December. It will be built upon 1,000 acres of land, out of which 740 acres will have filming activities and 40 acres for film institutions,” Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) CEO Arun Veer Singh told news agency ANI.

Earlier, the UP government approved the bid document for the UP Film City project after CBRE, the company hired to act as the consultant for the UP Film City project, submitted its detailed report for the project.

All this means the construction of what is billed as India’s largest film metropolis, might start soon, and the production of movies from this location may start in 2024.
Of the two sites proposed by the Noida Authority and the YEIDA, the UP government decided to go ahead with the one proposed by the latter for the UP film city, primarily because of its size. The YEIDA has identified a 1,000-acre land parcel in Sector 21, for the proposed film city, as against the 500-acre site offered by the Noida Authority. The proposed UP Film City site only six km from the upcoming Jewar airport.
The proposed film city at Sector 21 of Yamuna Expressway, is barely five kilometers from the site of the Jewar Airport, close to the proposed logistic hub in Noida, the proposed dry port and the freight corridor, while it lies at a distance of 80 kms from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. Consequently, the location not only enjoys proximity to the national capital but also with Agra and Mathura, cities of international fame that often feature in Bollywood and Hollywood movies. In broader terms, the film city would not only be easily accessible from seven neighbouring states but also from Nepal.
While inviting the film industry to the proposed film city, the UP chief minister said it would not only be a place to make films but also have the advantage of having an electronic city and financial district close by.

In fact, UP plans to provide the film fraternity a complete pre-production and post-production infrastructure, assisted by processing labs, VFX and digital technology of international standards. Adding value to the film city and attracting tourists, would be public utilities like star hotels, resorts, entertainment zones, cinemas and parks. At the proposed site, 780 acres of land will be used for industrial purposes while the remaining 220 acres will be for commercial purposes.
where Adityanath announced the launch of the ambitious project that might take years to shape up. While the conspicuous absence of many producers and filmmakers from the film city launch event that took place on September 22, 2020, at the CM’s residence in state capital Lucknow, evokes skepticism about the intent of the film producing community to move base to the film city in UP from Mumbai (home to Bollywood) and Hyderabad (home to Deccanwood), the state government has made changes in its film policy, drafted during the SP government’s tenure, to offer monetary benefits to filmmakers. A filmmaker shooting over 50% of his movie in UP would get a subsidy of Rs 1 crore while the amount would increase to Rs 2 crores, if 75% of the film is shot here. If four key artistes in the script are hired from within UP, the producer would get an additional ex-gratia payment of Rs 25 lakhs. This amount goes up to Rs 50 lakhs, if the entire cast is from within UP.

So that government approvals are quick to get (an area where UP is notoriously slow), the state also plans to establish a single-window system for filmmakers.