Celluloid world makes Indian coffer richer by over US$ 6 bn

If money could speak, this piece of news would have been screaming in technicolour from all multiplexes! Bollywood has made almost two million homes happy â€ and no, it isn't a preamble to one more of the film city's potboilers churned out periodically.

The Indian tinsel town added a whopping Rs28,305 crores (US$ 6.2 billion) surreptitiously to the central coffer while also creating 1.8 million jobs. In times of recession, a report titled Economic Contribution of Indian Film and Television Industry prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers in a pure box office hit!

The report commissioned by the MPPA (India) carried out a study measuring the economic impacts by the film and television industry on the country's total economic contribution. The Motion Picture Association (MPA) and Motion Picture Association International (MPA-I) represent the interests of major motion picture companies in the global marketplace.

The report also finds that India's burgeoning entertainment industry's total economic contribution totalled a gross output of Rs 92,645 crores (US$20.4 billion), which is way ahead of the advertising industry in terms of contributing to India's GDP. Moreover, some crystal ball gazing also reveals that this is expected to grow at a rate of 11% over the next 5 years, reaching a size of over Rs 60,000 crores (US$13 billion).

"This report demonstrates the importance of the film and television sector to the overall growth and vitality of the Indian economy," said Dan Glickman, Chairman of said Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), who was in New Delhi on Wednesday to launch the report at the Asia Society Conference.

On the flip side, a study undertaken by the US India Business Council and Ernst & Young showed that piracy has caused the biggest dent to the film industry in terms of huge monetary loss to the tune of US$959 million and around 571,000 jobs in 2008, in the same time when combined revenues of the Indian film and television industry were over Rs 35,000 crores (US$7.7 billion). Most experts and biggies attending the meet condemned the act of piracy urging for stringent laws to nip stealing in the bud.

However, expressing his happiness at the accomplishment of the film and television over-riding all adversities, Glickman said: "Indians should be proud of the staggering growth that the film and television industry has achieved." Of course we are, undeniably Mr Glickman!