Renowned film-making schools — Film and Television Institute of India () Pune and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) Kolkata — have been granted deemed-to-be university status, according to the ministry of education. The new status will empower them to award degrees rather than just diplomas, as well as offer doctoral programmes.

“FTII Pune and SRFTI Kolkata have been granted deemed-to-be university status under section 3 of the UGC Act. The status has been notified following recommendation made by the ,” a senior MoE official said.

“Both institutes will launch doctoral, research and innovative academic programmes. They will also participate in NIRF Rankings and integrate with the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC). Aligned with the vision of (NEP), 2020, this landmark decision will pave the way for greater autonomy, innovation and academic excellence in film and media education,” the official added.

FTII was set up by the government of India in 1960, in the premises of the erstwhile Prabhat Studios in Pune. Formerly known as the 'Film Institute of India', it was a department of the ministry of information and broadcasting.

In 1971, FTII came to be known as the 'Film and Television Institute of India' and soon started in-service training programmes for Doordarshan, India's public broadcaster. The television training wing, which was earlier functioning in New Delhi, shifted to Pune in 1974. Thereafter, the institute became fully aided by the I&B ministry. In 2017, the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) granted equivalence to six PG diploma programmes of the institute with Master's degrees.

Located in Kolkata and named after the legendary maestro Satyajit Ray, SRFTI was the second national centre of cinema education established in 1995 by the government of India as an autonomous academic institution under the I&B ministry.

At presently, the institute conducts three-year postgraduate programmes in cinema in six specialisations of filmmaking and two-year postgraduate programmes in electronics and digital media in six specialisations.