Documentary Film Tenders – A Creative Initiation by the Government of India:
Introduction: Documentary films are a kind of non-fictional motion picture that provide us factual information about a certain topic, or place. It provides an idea of the real world. Documentary films are made in almost every country. India is no exception. In addition to the privately-funded and independent ones, there are also plenty of government-sponsored documentary films in India. Government agencies often fund many documentaries for the purpose of promoting Indian culture as well as preserving it for historical purposes. This initiative contributes to awareness creation and imparting knowledge to the young people of this nation. Up to 2026, the film division has been assigned a budgetary allocation of Rs 1304.52 crore according to official sources in Indian Government.
Annual Analysis of Documentary Film Tenders: The government agencies in India actively funded documentary films in the recent years. During the last year, the government agencies in India advertised a total number of 212 tenders for documentary films. Among these 212 tenders, the maximum number of documentary film tenders was published in the state of Delhi at 35 tenders. Maharashtra recorded 26 tenders for documentary films in 2023 and ranked second in the list. These 212 tenders were published by 110 government agencies. Among these, the India Army published the most number of tenders for documentary films at 23 tenders. The Department of Defence Production published 9 tenders for documentary films and ranked second in the list, along with Kerala State Film Development Corporation and the Information and Cultural Affairs Department.
Documentary Films in the Defence Sector: We have a fairly upgraded defence department in the country. Thus, the government often sponsors documentary videos to show case the fine abilities of the defence sector. From motivational films to recording webinars and seminars, they agencies funded a considerable number of documentary films. During the previous year, Indian Army published 18 tenders, the Department of Defence Production published 9 tenders and the Department of Defence published 3 tenders for documentary films. For example, the Indian Army advertised 3 tenders in West Bengal for the hiring of creative agency to film documentary movies. Also, they advertised 3 different tenders in Jammu and Kahmir for decoration and lighting, hiring of short film making equipment with trainer. They also advertised tender for basic course in smartphone film making, airport pickup and drop, accommodation and messing, infrastructure and equipment with MISC expenditure. They invested in video editing training as well. Apart from these, the Department of Defence Production released 4 tenders in Kerala looking for services for animation film creation. The Department of Defence in Delhi published 2 tenders for documentary of 15 to 20 minutes duration on vision documentary and a statement documentary video of 20 to 25 minutes run time.
Documentary Films in the Healthcare Sector: After the Covid 19 outbreak, healthcare awareness has become highly essential. The government in India took initiative in that by making documentary movies bout these. During the last year, around 5 tenders for documentary films were advertised by the government healthcare agencies in India. For example, the Public Health and Family Welfare Department of Maharashtra published a tender for the production of TVC (Television Campaign) of 60 seconds for ABHA in Marathi local languages. The Central Health Research and Innovation (CHRI) in Rajasthan released a tender for developing a video documentary on developing girl friendly Gram Panchayats. Besides these, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) of Delhi advertised 2 tenders in Karnataka for the hiring of creative agency for documentary videos of 5 to 15 minutes long in Hindi and English with Kannada subtitles. Even the National Institute of Plant Health Management in Maharashtra published a tender for documentary film making to increase the awareness about plant health.
Documentary Films for Tourism: Tourism is one of the most important factors in increasing the economy of the country. Last year, the government agencies in India published a few tenders for documentary films to promote tourism in India. For example, the District Magistrate of Burdwan in West Bengal published 2 tenders for 5 to 6 minutes long full HD quality compact documentary video of different tourist destination of Purba Bardhaman. The government agencies also show case the cultural heritage of India through the documentary films, which attracts tourism to the country. Such as, Last year, in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh a tender was published for the production of documentary film cum movie for conservation, promotion and preservation of tribal heritage and culture of Bastar region.
Documentary Fims for Historical Documentation: Many documentary films are made to provide a full informative view of a certain historical incidents. This kind of documentary films are used in educational purposes as well. BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) makes plenty of documentary films in this genre. During the last year, the government agencies in India also made effort in making documentary films for historical documentation. On the occasion of 100 years fulfilment of the Malabar Riot, the Rural Development Department published 2 tenders to prepare documentary film on it.
Contract Value of Documentary Film Tenders: The making of documentary films does not cost as much as the entertainment movies. Still the opportunities in this field are not small at all. The estimated contract value for all the documentary film tenders were not published by the government agencies, but there were a few cases in which it was published. It started from Rs. 96 thousand and went up to Rs. 10 crores. For example, Bharat Coking Coal Limited in Jharkhand published a tender for the preparation of video clips of past accidents with the estimated budget of Rs. 96 thousand. Whereas, the two tenders published by UIT Kota and Rajasthan Urban Development and Housing Department for the selection of agency for film making in UIT Kota were of worth around Rs. 10 crores. However, the average budget for documentary film tenders in 2023 was from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 50 lakhs.
Live Tender Analysis: As of May 12, 2024, there were a total number of 5 live tenders for documentary films across India. Among them, Delhi had the maximum number of live documentary film tenders at 3 live tenders. Haryana and Uttar Pradesh had 1 tender each, as per shown in the graph below. Until May 18, 2024, the State government agencies and Public Sector Undertakings published Documentary Film tenders and Videography tenders.
Conclusion: The above analysis shows that the demand and necessity for documentary films is growing day by day. This opens up a wide and highly profitable opportunity for the creative film making agencies to grow. They are suggested to monitor these opportunities and participate in the tender bidding process to make complete use of them.
