Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Minister for Cultural Affairs and Cinema P C Vishnunadh on Saturday dismissed reports that the venue of the IFFK would be shifted from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi, asserting that the annual film festival will continue to be held in the state capital.

Speaking to reporters here, the minister said the proposal mentioned in the state budget was only for creating a permanent venue for the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) and not for shifting the festival from Thiruvananthapuram.

"The IFFK will continue to be held in Thiruvananthapuram. What was announced in the budget was the creation of a permanent venue for the festival. The priority is to identify suitable land for it within Thiruvananthapuram city," he said.

Vishnunadh said the proposed international film city in Kochi and the permanent venue for the IFFK in Thiruvananthapuram were two separate projects.

He also clarified that development works at the state-owned Chitranjali Studio in Thiruvananthapuram would continue despite the proposal to establish a new film city in Kochi.

The minister said the film city proposed in Kochi would be developed as a world-class facility with the potential to boost tourism and emerge as a model project for the country.

"It will be a film city of a standard higher than even Ramoji Film City," he said.

Earlier in a Facebook post, Vishnunadh termed reports suggesting that the IFFK venue would be shifted from Thiruvananthapuram as "baseless".

"While the IFFK will continue in Thiruvananthapuram with all its grandeur, an international film city with modern facilities will become a reality in Kochi," he said.

The minister noted that the state budget had also fulfilled a long-standing demand of the Malayalam film industry by granting cinema the status of an industry.

He said the budget had earmarked funds for setting up an international film city in Kochi in memory of Malayalam cinema pioneer J C Daniel and for establishing a permanent venue for the IFFK in Thiruvananthapuram.

The clarification came amid concerns raised by a section of the media and social media users following the budget announcement, with many attributing the confusion to the simultaneous mention of the Kochi film city project and the IFFK permanent venue proposal in the chief minister's budget speech.

Leading Malayalam actors and directors on Friday welcomed the Kerala Budget's proposals to grant industry status to cinema and establish an international film city here.

The state Budget proposes the J C Daniel International Film City-Chitranagaram project in Kochi with an allocation of Rs 100 crore.

There was an announcement in the budget to take steps to grant industry status to cinema, establish anti-piracy mechanisms, create a permanent venue for the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) and allocate Rs 1 crore for the construction of a memorial for late actor Salim Kumar in Ernakulam.