| Enthralled by the shots of tea gardens and Howrah Bridge, trams and Durga puja in the film, the minister said the tourism department was committed to develop the state as a film shooting destinations for Bollywood films. |
| North Bengal, Darjeeling, Sunderbans, Bishnupur and Murshidabad are some of the places which the minister thinks will be good locations to shoot Bollywood films. |
| With this view, the state is actively participating in a two-day festival called Cinemascope, in Mumbai ending October 26. |
| The state will be the "silver partner" in the festival, jointly organised by an organistion comprising leading film producers and directors in Mumbai. The department has also produced a film to hardsell the state as a shooting destination. |
| Also on cards is use of a Bengali film star as a brand ambassador for the state. |
| "The star can be either a local one, or some Bengali filmstar in Mumbai," the minister said at a press conference organised to promote the department's puja packages for operated tours this year. Apart from tourism department officials, several hotel chains and tour operators will participate in the fair for business-to business meetings. |
| Based on the response of the Bollywood film fraternity, the tourism department would decide on developing requisite infrastructure in the areas, the minister said. |
| "Let them first come out with proposals. If producers in Mumbai are willing to come to West Bengal for shooting, we will develop the infrastructure," the minister said. |
| Grants from the Centre are encouraging the state tourism department to think of these lines. |
| In the last three months alone, the Centre had approved projects worth Rs 36 crore in West Bengal, claimed the minister. |
| Some of the projects include developing eco-tourism circuit in west Jhargram, and promoting Sagar island and Birbhum district for tourism purposes. |
| Also on cards is a loan from the Asian Development Bank to promote tourism the state. |
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