Andhra Pradesh government has announced a restart package for movie theatres in the state. A decision in this regard was taken after a cabinet meeting with the ministers and the announcement was made by the Information and Technology Minister Perni Nani. As per the announcement, the government has completely waived off the fixed electricity charges for the theatres for the months of April, May and June, and for the remaining months of the lockdown, the government has facilitated the deferred payment option. About 1,100 theatres across the state will be included in this package.
Speaking to the media, Minister Perni Nani said, “Theatres will be considered under MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) category and incentives will be provided to help restart the theatres. Theatres across the nation were closed in the month of March and till now, many have remained closed and are not in a position to be reopened. Several theatres need a pushup as the infrastructure like the furniture in the theatre got damaged.”
In order to help theatres recover financially, the government has also announced that they will facilitate zero interest working capital loans of Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh for the theatres to restart their business, which can be repaid via the EMI facility. The government is going to get an additional burden of Rs 4 crore on the exchequer for this, said the Minister.
Commenting on the package, Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Sai Reddy tweeted, “Restart package for the film industry is an example of our honourable Chief Minister YS Jagan garu's care towards each and every industry. Waiver of fixed electricity charges, working capital loans, a moratorium on EMIs and interest subvention provide the much-awaited relief to the pandemic-hit industry.”
Restart package for the Film Industry is an example of our Hon. CM YS Jagan garu's care towards each & every industry. Wavier of fixed electricity charges, working capital loans, moratorium on EMIs, interest subvention provide the much awaited relief to the pandemic hit industry.
— Vijayasai Reddy V (@VSReddy_MP) December 19, 2020
After the announcement of the package, several celebrities from the Telugu film industry (Tollywood) took to social media to thank Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
My sincere gratitude to @YSJagan garu for the very compassionate #CinemasRestartPackage for Exhibitors.The various relief measures are the need of the hour for the sustenance of Theatres & #TeluguFilmIndustry as a whole & will greatly benefit livelihoods of thousands of families.
— Chiranjeevi Konidela (@KChiruTweets) December 18, 2020
#CinemaRestartPackage... A commendable move by our hon'ble CM @ysjagan! A big thank you to the Government of AP for bringing in these relief measures during these challenging times which will help restructure and restart our Telugu film industry! Cinema is back on track!
— Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh) December 19, 2020
I whole heartedly thank @YSJagan garu and the Government of Andhra Pradesh for these relief measures. Your incentives and this support will help us in restoring our film industry @AndhraPradeshCM https://t.co/wgsgKiROdr
— Ram Charan (@AlwaysRamCharan) December 19, 2020