The Hindu : Front Page : 40 entertainment companies interested in Animation and Gaming City

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Sunday, Mar 02, 2008
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40 entertainment companies interested in Animation and Gaming City

N. Rahul

Project proposed to be established by Government over a 100-acre site at Sultanpur

HYDERABAD: Forty companies involved in animation, gaming and digital entertainment have evinced interest in participating in the Animation and Gaming City proposed to be established by the State Government over a hundred-acre site at Sultanpur near BHEL here.

These companies of national and international repute, including eight big names in the industry, submitted their Expression of Interest (EoI) confirmation forms to the Government, a few days ago. The cost of the infrastructure, not inclusive of the land, is expected to be around Rs. 450 crore

S.K. Joshi, Secretary, Information Technology and Communications, told The Hindu that approvals for the project were being expedited within the Government.

The Animation and Gaming City, also known as digital entertainment city, is proposed to be developed as the largest animation and gaming hub in south-east Asia. It will have an animation and gaming academy, space for animation and gaming industry and an independent campus for big media companies.

It would be the first of its kind in the country unless Kerala which was also contemplating a project on similar lines completed it earlier. Similar facilities existed in Dubai, Singapore and Korea, Mr. Joshi said.

Office space

In the incubation centre for the industry, it was proposed to provide state of the art ‘walk to work’ and ‘plug and play’ built up office space at subsidised rates to first generation technocrat entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises engaged in animation and gaming activities. A host of businesses in production, distribution, web designing, advertising, broadcasting, music production and video games were also envisaged.

The major players, however, would be allotted to Special Economic Zones. A Digital Entertainment Task Force (DETF) with representatives of the Government and corporates would be responsible for taking the project ahead.

The Task Force will form a Special Purpose Vehicle, which would be a public limited company, to create, develop and manage the city. The contribution of the Government in the company’s equity would be limited to the extent of allotting land while companies signing EoI forms would pool financial resources.

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