Nueva Delhi: The Minister of Finance of the Union, Nirmala Sitharaman, responded to the deputy of the Samajwadi party, Jaya Bachchan, the criticisms of the management of the government of the government of the film industry.
Responding to Bachchan’s plea for aid measures, Sitharaman clarified that the entertainment tax falls under the state jurisdiction and not the scope of the center. “Jaya Bachchan Ji, an honorable member, spoke passionately about how the film industry is neglected. She said that the GST leaves, all the theaters of a single screen are closing, and there are no cuts in the entertainment tax. I want to clarify: there are no taxes on entertainment raised by the Government of the Union, ”said Sitharaman.
He explained that before the introduction of the tax and services tax (GST), the states raised entertainment taxes of up to 100%, while under the GST regime, film tickets above RS 100 are now subject to 18 %, below 28%. “For tickets below RS 100, GST has been reduced from 18% to 12%. The food and drinks inside the cinemas attract only 5% of GST, including “notorious corn disorders”, he said.
Bachchan had accused the government of using the film industry for its own benefit by not providing any support. “You have fully ignored the film and entertainment industry because you only use them to serve your own purpose,” Sabha said. She claimed that the government wanted to “kill the industry”, urging Sithaman to have “mercy.”
In a strong refutation, Sitharaman pointed out important government initiatives that support the media and entertainment sector, including India organized by the first worldwide summit of visual audio entertainment (Waves 2025) in Mumbai. He also mentioned the recent approval of a National Center of Excellence for animation, visual effects, games, comics and extended reality.
Highlighting the historical incidents of suppression in the film industry, Sitharaman reminded Bachchan how the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in 2020 had attacked Kangana Ranaut. “His office was demolished within 24 hours until the Superior Court of Bombay intervened. Jaya Bachchan Ji must talk to his alliance companions about that, ”he said.
In addition, he noted that Hridaynath Mangeshkar, the brother of can Mangeshkar, was fired from all the radio of India because one of his compositions disliked the Government of Congress. He recalled that the famous Laterista Majrooh Sultanpuri was imprisoned, Dev Anand was threatened to oppose the emergency, and Kishore Kumar’s songs were prohibited throughout India’s radio.
“We have not forgotten the film industry. On the contrary, we are raising it to a global level, ”he said, adding that Prime Minister Modi has honored cinematographic legends in his direction ‘Mann Ki Baat’.