Days after opening up the ASI monuments for general public, the Union Culture Ministry has decided to allow the film industry to shoot at the protected sites.

"It would be difficult for the film industry to go to foreign destinations at this time when world is swept with Coronavirus pandemic, so we have suggested that they could go to the Northeast states," Union Tourism and Culture Minister Prahlad Patel said at a FICCI event here.

He assured the film industry that that they will get permission to shoot at monuments within 15-20 days of filing their online applications.

"It would also fulfil the Prime Minister’s appeal to people to visit various places in the country. I told them we will give permission in 15 to 20 days. They just have to apply online. I have appealed that it would be great if other than the high footfall sites, they could also shoot at less popular monuments suggested by us to give them a boost as well," he said.

The ASI has over 3,000 monuments and sites that were reopened on July 6 after remaining shut during the coronavirus lockdown.

Currently, filming at ASI sites is permitted, but it involves a lot of paperwork and is time consuming, officials said.

"Since now the film industry cannot shoot abroad, the ministry will help in facilitating permissions from the states. If necessary we will coordinate with the Information and Technology ministry as well," the Minister said.

Presently, the request for filming/ video shoot along with camera crew is to be made by the applicant at least 15 days prior to the proposed date of shoot.