Kinfra gets nod to set up animation school

Kerala-based Kinfra Film & Video Park (KFVP) has received the commerce ministry's approval to set up an International Animation School that is to be built on a private-public-partnership (PPP) basis. Kinfra, which is setting up the first infotainment park in the country, intends to house the animation school on its premises in Thiruvanathapuram.

The company was accorded approval this week, after the empowered committee meeting of Assistance to States for Development of Export Infrastructure and Allied Activities Scheme (ASIDE) which discussed the project. The meeting was chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Commerce (MoC). KFVP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra), a statutory body of Kerala government.

Confirming this, Kinfra Managing Director A S Suresh Babu told Business Standard, "We had earlier submitted a project report on the possibilities of the animation school to the Commerce Ministry and this got a final approval. Now we are in the process of finalising a managing committee for the project".

The international animation school would be set up in the proposed animation zone and this would be conceptualised as per Nasscom recommendations. The school would seek professional support from global organisations and leading companies in the animation sector, he added.

With the number of TV animation channels rising there is a lot of potential for animators in the country, and the park is slated to be one of the biggest in the country. The company is expecting 25 big animation companies to set up shop here, apart from a fillip to the Indian animation outsourcing industry. The park would be set up with a Rs 20 crore investment of which Kinfra would bring in one-third, while the remaining two-thirds would be shared between Kinfra and the private partner. The private partner is yet to be finalised, upon which the government would provide the funding.