Various Indian States have been invited to submit proposals identifying their best tourism destinations for hosting the National Film Awards, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said yesterday, as the federal government seeks to take the annual ceremony beyond Delhi and to different parts of the country.

Interacting with the media, Vaishnaw said, “We are taking the National Film Awards to the best tourist destinations in the country, inspired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji.”

The 72^nd National Film Awards were moved out of New Delhi to Gujarat’s Ekta Nagar this year and President Murmu distributed the awards yesterday in a glittering ceremony.

The Minister, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting yesterday, said States should propose their best tourism destinations along with plans for providing the required facilities and their “360-degree development”.

The State whose proposal is selected will host the subsequent National Film Awards at the proposed tourist destination, according to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting statement.

Explaining the rationale, Vaishnaw said the initiative was aimed at taking the National Film Awards “beyond a conference room” and bringing them closer to people while promoting the destinations through tourism.

He cited Ekta Nagar in Gujarat, the venue for this year’s awards, as an example of a destination that has gained recognition worldwide and is home to the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The Minister said the visit of the President and leading personalities from the Indian film industry to such destinations would provide an opportunity for more people to learn about and experience them.

The move, he said, is part of a broader effort to explore how film and tourism can be brought together, with the National Film Awards being taken across the country and the benefits extending both to the host destinations and to the awards themselves.