Kerala zeroes in on animation SEZ

CHHAVI DANG

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2007 03:13:40 AM]

MUMBAI: Apart from tourism, Kerala will soon have another claim to fame.
Sensing there is a huge potential in the Indian animation industry that
needs to be tapped, the government of Kerala has procured around 25
acres of land in an SEZ that would later be converted into an animation
zone.

Kinfra, the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation, a
statutory body of the state government, is developing this park where it
expects some 50 large animation studios from major centres to move in.

"This is the second phase of development happening in the park and we
have decided to make it an exclusive animation SEZ. It is the first of
its kind in India," claimed K Sudhakaran, project manager, Kinfra films
and video park. Kinfra has invested Rs 2.5 crore in land procurement (Rs
10 lakh per acre) and has plans to sell it at Rs 26 lakh per acre.

"The whole idea is to give a fillip to the animation outsourcing
industry in Kerala because once the studios move in here, they will be
exempted from tax as per the SEZ norms," said Sudhakaran.

Though Kinfra's target is to house at least 50 big studios, an MoU has
been signed with animation studios like Toonz Animation, Dimensions,
headquartered in Kerala, and Chandigarh-based Compact Disc. It's also in
talks with Chennai-based Accel Animation Studios, a mobile gaming and
animation company, for the animation SEZ, which will be operational in
three months.

Explaining the process of space logistics, Sudhakaran added, "The land
is available on a long lease basis (90 years). Around 1,50,000 sq feet
is the built-up area with 10,000-15,000 modules for the studios." These
modules are available at the rate of Rs 20 per sq ft per month. Apart
from this, Kinfra has also set up an incubation centre in about 500 sq
ft of this land.

This incubation centre is available with a plug-in facility for small
companies who can't afford to start a full-fledged facility. "Small
companies can really leverage this facility. All they have to do is to
plug in their computers and get going. All this, for Rs 35 per sq feet
per month," he added. The agency is expecting a turnover of Rs 150 crore
from the animation SEZ in the first year itself and expects it to go up
to Rs 1,000 crore over the next three years.

The industry players are also excited about the idea. Munjal Shroff,
director and COO, Mumbai-based animation studio Graphiti Multimedia,
said, "If there is an animation SEZ coming up in India, we will move in
there, as this will benefit our business." PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC),
which tracks the media and entertainment industry, said this was a good
opportunity and would give a boost to the industry. PwC, in its recently
released report, has estimated the animation industry to be worth Rs 11
bn with a CAGR growth rate of 22% to reach Rs 29 bn by 2011.

Kinfra is also looking at establishing state-of-the-art animation
academy to meet the increasing manpower demand in this field. "The
school will be based on a public-private partnership model, with an
equal amount of funding being provided by the Centre, the Kerala
government through Kinfra, and a private player," Sudhakaran said.

Kinfra is now in talks with both Toonz and Accel. The total investment
in the academy would be Rs 20.5 crore. Timmy Kandhari, executive
director, entertainment and media practice, PwC, said, "An initiative of
this kind will provide a ready talent pool to the industry." Going
forward, co-producing animation films with foreign partners is the way
up for the industry, he added.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Infrastructure/Kerala_zeroes_in_on_animation_SEZ/articleshow/1835779.cms