After years of assurances and planning, the Government has invited Expression of Interest for assistance and operating the proposed National Centre of Excellence in Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics.
Although there has been no formal announcement in this regard, it is learnt that the Centre will come up at the Film City in Goregaon, Mumbai, despite demands earlier that it should be either in Hyderabad or Bengaluru which are the hubs of animation and special effects institutions.
The Expression of Interest has been invited from eligible academic institutions for a period of 10 years extendable up to 30 years.
The EoI has been asked in the form of an advertisement by the Information and Broadcastng Ministry in association with the AVGC Forum of FlCCl, a specialised consortium partner of Media and Entertainment Skill Council. A copy of the advertisement was also placed on the website of the Ministry, mib.nic.on
The complete EoI document can be viewed / downloaded from the link: mescindia.org from 13 July morning to 17 August-2016 afternoon.
A sum of Rs 5.1 crore has been set aside in the current year for setting up the Centre.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Rathore said at Cannes in May 2016 that the Government will only ‘focus on providing land and infrastructure’ for the proposed National Centre and had called upon private partners to take utilise this initiative with investment, technology and faculty.
Earlier this year, then I and B Secretary Sunil Arora had confirmed that the Maharashtra Government is providing a 25 acre land near the Film City in Goregaon for the institute.
