The Government is to introduce a cap on the refundable amount under the Mauritius Film Rebate Scheme, with the guidelines governing the scheme set to be amended in response to fiscal constraints and the need to ensure value for money.
The statement was made, today, by the Prime Minister, Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam, during the Prime Minister’s Question Time at the National Assembly.
According to Dr Ramgoolam, this measure is intended to enable a greater number of projects to benefit from the Scheme, while ensuring tangible economic benefits and further enhancing the international visibility and attractiveness of Mauritius as a filming destination.
In his reply, the Prime Minister recalled that the Film Rebate Scheme was introduced in 2013 to position Mauritius as a competitive destination for local and international film production, while creating employment opportunities for local talent, promoting tourism and enhancing the country’s international visibility.
The scheme is open to local and international film producers and covers feature films, television drama series, documentaries, high-end international television commercials, music videos and dubbing projects.
A 30 per cent rebate is granted on qualifying local production expenditure. This may rise to 40 per cent where qualifying expenditure reaches at least US$1 million for a feature film or US$150,000 per episode for a drama series.
The Prime Minister further pointed out that the Economic Development Board (EDB) had informed that 14 applications were received during the financial year ended 30 June 2025, of which six projects were approved. In the following financial year, ending 30 June 2026, 11 applications were received and 10 projects were approved.
Funds disbursed under the scheme amounted to Rs102.1 million in the financial year ending 30 June 2025, compared with Rs 9.3 million in the financial year ending 30 June 2026.
Prime Minister Ramgoolam indicated that the amounts disbursed in a particular financial year did not necessarily relate to projects approved during that same year, as qualifying expenditure and the corresponding rebate payments could be spread over one or more financial years.
Moreover, he highlighted that the EDB Board now approves films eligible for rebates through a rule-based system while previously the EDB Chief Executive Officer had been solely responsible for approving such rebates.
01 September 2026
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Topics: National Assembly
