Maharashtra unveils ₹3,268-crore animation, gaming, VFX policy

The decision paves the way for policy-based interventions such as incentives, concessions, land reservation and digital infrastructure upgrades for the sector, officials said.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday cleared a ₹3,268-crore policy to boost the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) industry in the state, with an aim to attract investments worth ₹50,000 crore and generate 200,000 high-tech jobs over the next 25 years, according to officials.

Maharashtra unveils ₹3,268-crore animation, gaming, VFX policy

This is the first such policy for the AVGC-XR industry in Maharashtra. The decision paves the way for policy-based interventions such as incentives, concessions, land reservation and digital infrastructure upgrades for the sector, officials said.

According to the policy document approved by the cabinet, the aim is to establish and support 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 policy will relax stamp duty and power tariffs, while companies will be allowed to operate AVGC-XR studios 24x7.

“The AVGC-XR studios can be set up in any zone, including residential, no-development zones and green zones, etc. Eligible units would be permitted to operate 24x7 and all 365 days of the year, subject to safety norms. The sector would be classified as an essential service. The state would give a time-bound single window clearance for these projects,” states the policy document.

Maharashtra, home to Bollywood, already has around 30% of the country’s animation studios. Mumbai and Pune together host over 295 studios and 20 educational institutions related to the sector. The new policy will enable AVGC-XR parks to be set up in Mumbai’s Film City, 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 will also create a critical infrastructure fund to provide road connectivity, dedicated power supply, water resources, sewage treatment plants, effluent treatment plants and last-mile connectivity to these parks. “Incentives applicable to private IT parks under the state IT policy have also been made available for AVGC-XR parks,” the senior official added.

With the new policy in place, the state is hoping to expand the AVGC-XR sector from ₹25,000 crore to ₹65,000 crore in the next five years, targeting an annual growth rate of 25%. The policy document also states that 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, among others.

With the help of the Centre, the Maharashtra government has already started a satellite campus of the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), which offers 18 industry-driven courses in the AVGC-XR sector. The campus is at the National Film and Development Corporation (NFDC)’s Peddar Road premises.