Guwahati: The Assam Government has lowered the set rate of electricity for cinema halls, much to the relief of the proprietors.
The government has lowered the cinemas’ electricity rates for a period of 19 months.
In a press conference, the All-Assam Cinema Hall Owners’ Association claimed that the government had waived fixed electricity tariffs for a total of 19 months.
They said that due to COVID-19 lockout since March 2020, movie theatres have been temporarily closed.
The assam Chief minister then urged the business owners to maintain the dying sector and agreed to waive the electricity bill.
The association through the press meet expressed their gratitude to the chief minister.
However, they said that during the post-covid, eight movie theatres in Assam were closed, including the Apsara, Meghdoot, Urvashi, Vandana, Silver Screen, Aditi, and Nagaon locations.
Eighty movie theatres operated in the state prior to COVID; however, after COVID, many were compelled to close due to severe losses. Only 92 movie theatres are now operating throughout the state.
Only 30 of these movie theatres submitted an application to receive the benefit of the fixed power rate waiver.
The government has been encouraged by the cinema hall organisation to offer interest-free loans as the cinema hall businesses are on the verge of irreversible closure.
However, they also claimed that there aren’t any viewers for Assamese films. They speculated that this may be the result of inadequate Assamese film promotion.
They also said that one-time producers posed a threat to the movie business.
In addition to Assamese movies, the audience is declining across all of India. It has been observed that the majority of Bollywood films fail to break box office records.
It’s been a while since a bollywood movie have made blockbuster. Few movies even got cancelled in cinema halls due to lack of audience.
The post-COVID pandemic has clearly had a negative impact on the sector.