Hindi
Single Window clearance for filmmakers in three to six months: Varma
NEW DELHI: A single window clearance structure for filmmakers would be in place within the next three to six months.
This was stated by information and broadcasting ministry secretary Uday Kumar Varma during a round table event at Cannes over the weekend.
He said the government was working on four priority areas relating to the Indian film industry, which is celebrating one hundred years of cinema this year. He identified film finance, film industry promotion, production facilitation and human resource development, and said that changes to promotion and facilitation systems would happen first.
Though he did not use the words ‘single window clearance’, he said his department is moving in that direction. "This is not coming from a recommendatory body, this is from government itself," he said. "The state governments are on board. I have written to the executive heads of each state."
"We have looked at the film commission model in France, the UK and New Zealand," he said, but said that government is making a "very, very sincere effort" and could make a definitive announcement in three to six months.
He indicated that the National Film Development Corporation (Nfdc) would play a major role in film funding. He said that Nfdc could be the conduit for the launch of state funding initiatives. "The Nfdc is fully funded by the government of India and is able to fund and be involved in co-productions," he said.
He said that Canada and Australia are the two countries with which India is closest to agreeing on co-production treaties.
Varma said that Indian cinema’s success lay not in its acceptance among a larger global audience but in its unique cinematic approach.
He also added that in order to enable young independent filmmakers to showcase their work, the ministry was intending to create special screening facilities to promote cinematic hubs.
Producer Guneet Monga regretted that films which are considered as Indian national productions are subject to a different tax regime, but the Indian government ‘penalises co-production films’ compared with imported films.
The India pavilion at the Cannes film festival in France has organised a series of panel discussions on contemporary topics related to Indian cinema to create a global footprint for Indian cinema in its centenary year. The objective has been to enable the collaboration and partnerships for promoting India as a filming destination for films and documentaries.
Key events include celebrating significant projects which were a part of Film Bazaar 2011, The Lunchbox, and Monsoon Shootout. There are panel discussions on contemporary topics related to Indian cinema.
Acclaimed film critic and TV presenter Rajeev Masand engaged filmmakers on sessions which included breaking barriers in filmmaking and the current scenario of Indian cinema. The participants in these sessions include Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Ritesh Batra, and Amit Kumar.
Special sessions and discussions also seek to highlight recent successful Indian co-productions with international producers. The interactions and discussions at India pavilion bring to the fore, the films scenario in India and aim at giving the films their due credit not only in India but at a global level.
With India celebrating 100 years of cinema, there has been a significant rise in the number of delegates to the festival from the previous years, to celebrate this great occasion amongst the global film fraternity. This year, the Cannes film festival is celebrating the centenary of Indian cinema where India has been accorded the status of ‘Special Guest Country’. The Indian pavilion has witnessed the participation of key stakeholders who are keen to know about Indian Cinema. This year is seeing five Indian films in diverse sections at Cannes. These are Anurag Kashyap‘s Ugly, Ritesh Batra’s debut feature film The Lunchbox , Bombay Talkies, Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout , and veteran filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s Charulata.
The 66th Cannes festival this year was inaugurated by megastar Amitabh Bachchan with actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
Baz Luhrmann’s "The Great Gatsby" was the opening film of the festival. Bachchan features in what he calls "a blink and miss role" in "The Great Gatsby" which marks his Hollywood debut.
Bachchan used the opportunity to speak in Hindi and later said in a tweet that this was necessary in view of the centenary of Indian cinema.
Vidya Balan, who is on the jury this year, said later: "Personally, for me to have shared the stage with him and on an international platform where the talk is about India celebrating 100 glorious years, it felt really special. These are the times when you have to pinch yourself and say ‘oh my god, this is for real."
Bachchan also appears in Bombay Talkies which will have a gala screening to mark the 100 years of Indian cinema. Anurag Kashyap‘s segment in the portmanteau film is about a Bachchan fan.
Hindi
India’s telecom subscribers cross 1.32 billion in February 2026
Broadband base swells past 1.06 billion as Jio and Airtel tighten grip on the market.
MUMBAI: India’s telecom sector is ringing in steady growth once again adding millions of new connections every month while the race for broadband supremacy continues to heat up like a fiercely contested cricket match. According to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 1 April 2026, the total telephone subscriber base in the country reached 1,321.31 million at the end of February 2026. This marked a net addition of 7.31 million subscribers during the month, translating into a monthly growth rate of 0.56 per cent.
Wireless subscribers (including mobile and Fixed Wireless Access) stood at 1,273.31 million, registering a net addition of 6.97 million and a growth rate of 0.55 per cent. Within this, urban wireless connections grew to 730.75 million (growth 0.70 per cent), while rural wireless subscribers reached 542.56 million (growth 0.35 per cent).
Wireline subscribers, though much smaller in scale, showed slightly faster growth. The total wireline base increased to 47.99 million, with a net addition of 0.34 million and a monthly growth rate of 0.70 per cent. Urban areas continued to dominate wireline connections with a share of 89.41 per cent.
Overall tele-density in India improved to 92.66 per cent. Urban tele-density stood at 150.68 per cent, while rural tele-density edged up to 60.02 per cent.
The broadband subscriber base crossed a significant milestone, reaching 1,059.05 million at the end of February 2026. This reflected a healthy net addition of 6.33 million subscribers and a monthly growth rate of 0.60 per cent from January’s figure of 1,052.72 million.
Segment-wise, mobile wireless access continued to drive the majority of growth with 996.52 million subscribers. Fixed Wireless Access (including 5G FWA) added 16.51 million, while wired broadband stood at 46.02 million.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. maintained its commanding lead with 519.64 million broadband subscribers. Bharti Airtel Ltd. followed with 364.14 million, Vodafone Idea Ltd. with 129.36 million, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. with 28.70 million, and Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. with 2.38 million.
Together, these top five players command a massive 98.60 per cent share of the total broadband market.
In the wireless (mobile) segment, private operators continued to dominate with 92.59 per cent market share, leaving public sector undertakings (BSNL and MTNL) with just 7.41 per cent.
Out of the total 1,257.29 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1,177.60 million were active on the peak Visitor Location Register (VLR) date, representing an impressive 93.66 per cent activity rate. Bharti Airtel led in this metric with 99.42 per cent of its subscribers active.
Meanwhile, 14.47 million subscribers submitted requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in February, indicating healthy competition and customer churn across zones.
While urban areas still lead in absolute numbers, rural connectivity is slowly catching up. Rural wireless tele-density stood at 59.46 per cent, compared with the much higher urban figure of 142.32 per cent.
Fixed Wireless Access using 5G technology also showed promising traction, growing to 11.93 million subscribers. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are the primary players driving this segment.
The data paints a picture of a maturing yet still rapidly expanding telecom ecosystem. With total telephone subscribers now well past the 1.32 billion mark and broadband users comfortably above 1.06 billion, India continues to solidify its position as one of the world’s largest and most dynamic digital markets.
From bustling city streets to remote villages, more Indians are staying connected than ever before proving that when it comes to telecom, the country’s appetite for growth shows no signs of hanging up anytime soon.
