Dehradun: Uttarakhand has won the award for being the ‘Most Film-friendly State’ in the 66th National Film Awards that were announced on Friday. Terming it as a good sign for tourism in the state, CM Trivendra Singh Rawat said that the award was a reflection of the efforts put in to make the state an attractive destination for film-makers. “We have drafted a film policy under which a provision of single-window clearance has been made for film-makers. We are also not levying any charges for shoots. Instead, there is a provision of grants upto Rs 1.5 crore for films shot in the state. In addition, police cover is provided free of cost.”

The CM added that “last year, Uttarakhand got a ‘special mention certificate for film-friendly state’ and this year, it has emerged as the ‘most film-friendly state’ which is a matter of honour.” “Since 2017, almost 220 films, TV serials and documentaries have been shot in the state. These include Bollywood films like Batti Gul, Meter Chalu, Parmanu, Batla House, Kabir Singh, Kedarnath, Student Of The Year-2 and PM Narendra Modi as well as TV series like Man vs Wild,” Rawat said. He added that many private organisations have come forward for setting up film studios of which one has been set up in Kotdwar and the other one is about to get started in Dehradun soon. ‘Uttarakhand’s peaceful atmosphere and co-operative spirit of the people has been liked by film-makers. We will now try to connect them with the remote areas of the state so that these areas also benefit from tourism.”

