KCR’s Sops: Industry Happy, Audience Worried

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao released Telangana Rashtra Samiti’s Manifesto for the GHMC Elections. Probably, to garner the support of the Telugu industry celebrities, KCR showered sops for the industry which also includes several pending demands over the years. Let us see some of the sops and their impacts.

TRS promised to waive off minimum fixed power charges for cinema theaters. It is not clear if this pertains only to the charges during the Lockdown. Either way, the industry will welcome it.

The manifesto also allowed flexible ticket rates in theaters, which means the ticket rates are likely to go up in the coming days. This will not help the industry in the short term as they can not afford to increase the prices in the middle of a Pandemic. But if it is allowed now, it can come in handy later. The Opposition may use it against TRS in the election. Flexi Ticket Prices have made entertainment very costly in cities like Bengaluru.

The manifesto also promises to reimburse the state component of the GST for films made under a 10 Crore budget. This will be a big boost to small and medium budget films. The state government also allowed the re-opening of theaters but asked the stakeholders to be mindful of a possible COVID-19 second wave.