Center will open 10,000 cinema screens in rural areas by 2024

New Delhi:

The state-run CSC e-Governance Services will open 10,000 movie theaters in rural areas by the end of 2024 in partnership with October Cinemas, a statement said on Monday.

The opening of such facilities is part of an agreement between CSC, an SPV under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, and October Cinemas.

The agreement has been signed with the aim of opening about 1 lakh small cinemas in rural areas, each with a capacity of 100-200 seats. The timeline for the agreement period is not defined.

“The concept of village cinemas is still new. The goal is to start with small cinemas with around 100 seats. CSC cinemas open new avenues for our VLOs (Village-Level Entrepreneurs).”

“The entertainment industry is booming in India and our VLEs will help in the growth of the industry in rural and semi-urban areas. CSC cinema halls, which will also act as a commercial hub, will make our services more accessible to the people of rural areas said CSC Director Sanjay Kumar Rakesh.

According to the memorandum of understanding, CSC (Common Service Center) plans to open 1,500 cinema screens by the end of 2023, which will also act as a hub of various CSC activities in rural areas.

“We are launching CSC Rural Cinema for the entertainment of villagers in remote areas. India is the world’s largest entertainment market in terms of film consumption. Our venture will have anti-piracy features for films. We have already expressed more than 5,000 requests for interest We hope to have about 10,000 movie theaters in rural areas operational by the end of 2024,” said Punit Desai, general manager of October Cinemas.

He said that an investment of about Rs 15 lakh is required to run these cinema halls which will have a video parlor cinema license.

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