India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is considering privatising state-backed film production company, the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and the government-owned Indian Film and Television Institute.

The country's current government believes that these organisations are no longer useful and their role has been made redundant by private enterprise. The NFDC has a liability of $5m and is involved in several activities in addition to production. These include running a sub-titling unit, renting film equipment, financing cinemas, distributing foreign films, exporting Indian films and running a film society.

NFDC produced several Satyajit Ray films and its credits as a co-producer include Richard Attenborough's Gandhi and Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay. However the organisation has not had a chairman, board of directors or managing director for more than three years.

The IFFI, which has a government subsidy of $1m a year, is not regarded as a significant event on the international festival circuit. Privately organised festivals held in Mumbai, Calcutta and Thiruvananthapuram have become bigger events, attracting a wider array of recent foreign films and the participation of international film personalities.

The Film and Television Institute at Pune has been involved in several recent controversies including strikes. The school receives an annual $3m from the government but graduates only 40 students a year. Meanwhile, film and TV institutes have sprung up in other cities including Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.