THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A week since the Kinfra Film and Video Park (KFVP) at Kazhakkoottam received the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status, five companies, including Ernst & Young, have expressed keen interest in starting their ventures at this industrial park.
Kinfra managing director S Ramnath said that there are also several other companies inquiring about the infrastructure on the campus. Initial talks have been started by some of the companies and Kinfra is in the process of convincing them of the benefits in setting up their units here.
With the SEZ status, the investors in the Park will be eligible for various tax and duty concessions and there will be no need to obtain a special licence for imports. They will get full exemption from Excise and Customs duties and a five-year exemption from Income Tax. There is also a possibility for 100-per cent foreign direct investments in the Park.
Kinfra is striving to tap some major investments from entertainment conglomerates from India and abroad and convince them to set up units in Kerala.
The facilities offered by KFVP include land available on long lease to investors, standard design modules on rent, complete startup support, developed land, continuous water supply, communication facilities, vast pool of talented professionals, local inputs at reduced cost, presence of film fraternity within the Park, presence of prestigious organisations like Toonz Animation, Animation Studios, a division of Accel Transmatic Ltd, bank, guest house, preview theatre, business centre and round-the-clock security.
“The infotainment industrial park is a cluster of media companies, including post- production facilities like recording theatres, edition and dubbing studios. Export-oriented units in the animation industry can set up shop inside the zone,” he said.
The Park already houses around 20 entrepreneurs - the largest outfit being Prasad Labs, who did most of its work related to Malayalam films earlier in Chennai and now process all Malayalam films within the Park. The lab has installed a ‘tele-cine unit’, which will felicitate the conversion of film into digital format for non-linear editing.
Accel Animation Studios has tied up with Long Tale International of the US to develop, co-produce and distribute animation movies for the global market. Long Tale is a well-known name in Hollywood and a recognised company in the digital media and intellectual property rights management space.
“The investment opportunities offered by KFVP are immense and growing. Companies can choose from a wide range of investment options such as video studios, digital cinema facilities, animation and special effect studios, DVD and CD replication service providers, teleport facilities and outdoor shooting facilities,’’ Ramnath said.
The Park has also implemented a unique rainwater harvesting system. The
harvesting of rain is being done by collecting and channeling the rainwater and conserving it in the artificial lake already created in the Park.
For this purpose, drainage systems have been constructed for collecting the rainwater falling on paved surfaces such as rooftops and courtyards of buildings. Through this system, the Park is having a dedicated water supply system, which enables it to meet the entire demand of water for the investors throughout the year.
The incubation centre at the Film and Video Park offers the right ambience for creative minds to start off, without incurring huge costs. The entrepreneurs can also use the other infrastructural facilities such as conference hall and business centre for a nominal user fee.