Noida: Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) has imposed a penalty on Bayview Bhutani Film City Private Limited — the concessionaire for the 230-acre Film City project — for failing to achieve “financial close” within the mandated six-month period.YEIDA officials said June 9, 2025, was fixed as the project’s “appointed date” after the authority approved the plot’s layout and the Phase 1 building plan for filming facilities and the film institute. That date set off the 180-day clock for financial close, making Dec 6 the cut-off.According to officials, financial close requires documentary proof of how the project cost — about Rs 1,510 crore — was being arranged. The authority expects bank sanction letters, executed loan agreements with disbursement schedules and lender undertakings, equity infusion records with shareholder approvals and KYC details — in all, a fund-allocation plan linked to milestones, statutory and regulatory clearances.“A financial close needs to be presented within the stipulated time. As they did not complete it, a penalty of 0.05% was automatically applied. After June 9, 2025, they had 180 days to furnish this. Under this milestone, they must show how Rs 1,510 crore was arranged — whether through loans or equity, where the funds came from, and how the financing was structured,” said Shailendra Kumar Bhatia, additional chief executive officer at YEIDA.Under the agreement, the penalty — 0.05% of the performance security amount per week — will continue until the prescribed documents are submitted and accepted.“The authority cannot allow project land to remain locked without confirmed funding. Financial close is a contractual milestone, not a procedural formality,” a senior official said.The concessionaire is a consortium of filmmaker Boney Kapoor and the Bhutani Group, which won the bids to develop Film City along the Yamuna Expressway. Kapoor had earlier said the consortium would try to complete Phase 1 within 18 months.Phase 1 is planned over 80 acres and will include a film institute and studios. Of the total 230 acres in Sector 21, YEIDA has earmarked 155 acres for industrial use and 75 acres for commercial use. Within the industrial portion, 21 acres are allocated for the film institute and 134 acres for film-related facilities. Ashish Bhutani, CEO of Bhutani Group, told TOI, “We will complete all the required formalities by next week. Fencing work at the plot has already started. From March, shooting of the first film will also begin.”Even as the funding paperwork remains under scrutiny, preparations for the first production at the site are moving ahead. Shooting for Mom-2 is set to be the first film to go on floors at Film City. Officials associated with the project said land mapping for the shooting set has begun. Once it is completed, a set is expected to be prepared in about 20 days.
