MUMBAI: Aided by a speedy clearance from the Indian government, foreign filmmakers are increasingly turning to India for shooting of their movies.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has already approved 17 foreign movie projects this year.

In 2008, the I&B Ministry had cleared 27 foreign film productions to shoot in different locations of India. This is similar to 2007, but higher from the figure of 22 projects in 2006.

The Indian government has, thus, granted approval to 93 foreign film productions over the last three years.

While 33 productions are of UK based organisations, 17 are of US origin. The other productions relate to France, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Russia, Georgia, Italy, Israel, Bangladesh and Pakistan among others.

The Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire was granted permission in the year 2007 under the original title of “Q&A”. The celebrated movie A Mighty Heart, featured at the Cannes Film Festival, was approved for shooting near Pune in 2006 with the star cast of Angelina Jolie.

Goa, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Pune, Panchmarhi, Mumbai, Thane, Madh Island, Versova, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad are some of the preferred locations for foreign film shoots in India.

The I&B Ministry has streamlined the procedure for granting permissions for shooting in India. The permission process normally takes not more than three weeks. The production houses are required to apply for permission of feature films in India to the I&B with details of their chosen locations and the script of the production.