New Delhi, Apr 19 (IANS): Madhya Pradesh has bagged the Most Film Friendly Award given by the central government for its efforts to ease filming in the state by creating a well-structured website, film friendly infrastructure and more.

The award, which was earlier conferred on Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, was announced on Thursday by the Chairman of the Jury and filmmaker Ramesh Sippy, read the official website of the Press Information Bureau.

The award will be presented by President Ram Nath Kovind on May 3 during the presentation of the 65th National Film Awards here.

"The jury members laud the continuing efforts of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat towards creating a film friendly eco-system in their states and hope that they keep up the good work," said Sippy.

"This year, Madhya Pradesh -- where a lot of filmmakers have shot over the years -- has won the award due to the ease of filming that the state offers along with excellent on ground support and filmic infrastructure, an informative website and incentives for filmmaking," he added.

Madhya Pradesh beat 16 other states, including Delhi to bag the honour.

Uttarakhand has been given a Special Mention certificate to recognise the efforts made by the state towards creating a film friendly environment.

"The jury would like to acknowledge the sincere efforts made by Uttarakhand in this direction, despite it being a relatively new state with a difficult terrain and hence has been given the Special Mention," said Sippy.

The jury for selecting the Most Film Friendly State Award 2017 comprised filmmakers like Nagraj Manjule, Raja Krishna Menon, Vivek Agnihotri and Uday Singh, Managing Director, Motion Picture Distributors Association.