The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) released a study on the entertainment and media (E&M) industry on Tuesday, raising certain issues, which they will present to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a meeting in New Delhi during the the first week of June.

The chamber demanded that considering the rapid growth in E&M and in order to make India a hub for E&M, this sector should be brought under the concurrent list from the state list. It has also demanded that the government should enact the Optic Disc Law for curbing piracy. Venugopal Dhoot, chairman, Videocon, who is also the president of Assocham has demanded that value added tax (VAT) and service tax be removed or VAT brought down to 4% from the current 12%. It also sought conferring ?de-facto industry status? to the E&M industry so that the sector can earn certain tax incentives.

The study points out that the entertainment and the film industry falls under the state governments? jurisdiction as a result of which it has not been able to enjoy the already conferred ?dejure? industry status on entertainment and film industry. The chamber also points out that in the Finance Act of 2007, service tax has been made applicable in case of renting, leasing, letting immovable properties, which include theatres, exhibition halls and multiple use buildings. The chamber feels that the film industry is already burdened with various types of taxes and fee imposed by state governments and local self-governments, and thus they will persuade the Centre to exempt the producers and distributors from possible taxes.

The report also projects that media and entertainment sector will cross a turnover of Rs 1 lakh crore by 2011-2012 from the present level of Rs 44,000 crore. The television industry will grow by 22% to Rs 51,900 crore by 2011-2012 from its current revenue of Rs 19,100 crore. The TV revenue will be driven both through subscription and advertisement. Subscription growth is projected to be the key growth driver for the TV industry as pay TV homes is expected to increase from 71 million to 100 million in the next four years.

SRK?s Red Chillies joins Assocham

Shah Rukh Khan?s production house Red Chillies Entertainment has now become a member of Assocham. The company has produced blockbuster flicks including Main Hoon Na, Paheli, and Om Shanti Om. Recently, Red Chillies introduced and bought the franchise of Kolkata Knight Riders Indian Premier League cricket team.