First SEZ for animation, gaming by July

The SEZ is spread across 25 acres of land at KINFRA Film, Video Park, in Thiruvananthapuram.

India will now have its first special economic zone (SEZ) for animation and gaming with the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) having received government clearance for the same this month.

The SEZ is spread across 25 acres of land at the KINFRA Film and Video Park (KFVP) in Thiruvananthapuram and is expected to house around 10 air-conditioned studios "" on the 1.5 lakh square feet allotted for this purpose "" when it's thrown open to occupancy, by July end.

The park is modelled on similar theme parks in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

"The infotainment industrial park is a cluster of media companies including post-production facilities like recording theatres, editing and dubbing studios. Export oriented units in the animation industry can set shop inside the zone," says S Ramnath, MD, KFVP.

KFVP has a total area of 75 acres. The remaining 50 acres have been alloted for non-EOUs (export-oriented units). The first phase, which had in-principle government clearance, was over around three year back at a cost of Rs 15 crore.

It already houses around five clients "" the largest outfit being Prasad Labs (who did most of its work earlier in Chennai) which now processes all its Malayalam language films within the park.

The Labs is planning to install a tele-cine unit which will facilitate the conversion of film into digital format for non-linear editing. Four more clients are expected to make this park their business centres, in the coming months.

The second phase, which is almost complete, will cost around Rs 16 crore. KINFRA also got a government grant from the ASIDE (Central Assistance to States for Developing Export Infrastructure and other Allied Activities) for this purpose.

The cost of leasing studio space starts from Rs 20 per square feet upwards, and the price of leasing plots ranges between Rs 18-20 lakhs per acre. KINFRA is also talking to private players to jointly set up an International Animation School within KFVP.

The land has alll the SEZ advantages including 100 per cent FDI, Duty-free import and exemption from customs / excise duty besides the tax holiday and pool of talented professionals. Being a theme park, the studios will also have the advantage of the basic infrastructure and support facilities like banks, guest houses and security.

"The SEZ in Kerala aims to develop and strengthen the supply base of animation and production studios and to encourage development of the existing animation and gaming capacity. It also focuses on evolving a concept of infrastructure sharing as well as making available a talent pool," says A S Suresh Babu, MD, KINFRA.

Incidentally, KINFRA has created around 17 theme-based parks in just over a decade. KINFRA has also started the development of a biotechnology park at Kalamassery, Kochi, jointly with TCD Urban Infrastructure Holdings, Mumbai.