In a big relief to cinema hall owners, the Assam Government relaxed the fixed charge of electricity of the cinema halls.
The government has relaxed the electricity tariff of the cinema halls for 19 months.
The All Assam Cinema Hall Owners’ Association in a press conference said the government waived off fixed electricity rates including a total of 19 months electricity tariff exemption.
They said cinema halls were shut down temporarily due to covid-19 lockdown since March 2020.
Following that, the Chief Minister of Assam urged the owners to keep the dying industry alive and decided to exempt the electricity tariff.
The association through the press meet expressed their gratitude to the chief minister.
However, they said, during the post covid, eight cinema halls were shut down in Assam, namely, Apsara cinema hall, Meghdoot, Urvashi, Vandana, Silver Screen cinema hall in Vijaynagar, Aditi in Nagaon and two more.
Before covid, 80 cinema halls were running in the state, however after covid and facing huge losses they were forced to shut down. At present, only 92 cinema halls are running across the state.
Out of these cinema halls, only 30 halls, who filed the application, could avail the benefit of fixed electricity rates waiving off.
As the cinema halls are being shut down permanently, the cinema hall association has urged the government to provide interest-free loans in order to keep the cinema hall industries alive.
On the other hand, they also alleged that there are no audiences to watch the Assamese movies. They said it maybe because there is a lack of proper promotion of Assamese films.
They further alleged that one-time producers have been a threat for the film industry.
The decline of audience is not only limited to Assamese films but also evident across India. It is witnessed that most of the bollywood movies are unable to break box offices.
It’s been a while since a bollywood movie have made blockbuster. Few movies even got cancelled in cinema halls due to lack of audience.
It is noticed that the industry has been hit hard by the post covid pandemic.
