Maharashtra cabinet clears AVGC-XR policy, draws up a 25-year roadmap

The policy approved by the Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday proposes a ₹3,268-crore plan till 2050 to boost the AVGC-XR ecosystem in the state

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday cleared a policy on Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) industry, and granted the sector the industry and infrastructure status.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

The policy proposes a ₹3,268-crore plan till 2050 to boost the AVGC-XR ecosystem, which is expected to attract investments worth ₹50,000 crore and generate 200,000 high-tech jobs over the next 25 years, the policy document said.

It proposes establishing and supporting state-of-the-art AVGC-XR parks, clusters, studios, virtual production facilities, testing labs and shared infrastructure across the state, including Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. The government will provide relaxation in stamp duty, power tariffs and more importantly, not impose restrictions on carrying out 24x7 operations.

“The AVGC-XR studios can be set up in any zone including residential, no development zones and green zones. The sector would be classified as an essential service. The state would give a time-bound single window clearance for these projects,” the policy approved by the cabinet said.

Maharashtra already has 30%of the country’s animation studios and is home to over 295 studios and 20 educational institutions in Mumbai and Pune.

The new policy allows AVGC-XR parks in the Film City in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Kolhapur, Satara and Nagpur. “These parks would have high-speed digital connectivity, motion capture studios, post-production labs, high-performance rendering farms, sound recording facilities, and virtual production studios,” said a senior official from the state industry department.

The state hopes to create the environment that leads the AVGC-XR sector to grow from ₹250 billion to ₹650 billion in the next five years, an annual growth rate of 25%.

The policy also stated that the AVGC-XR would be incorporated into the school curriculum. The state government will constitute a skill advisory committee comprising industry experts, academia and government officials to prepare the curriculum comprising important topics and training modules.