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Size of media & entertainment industry to reach $100 billion by 2030: I&B minister
Union minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur said media and entertainment ecosystem is a sunrise sector expected to generate Rs4 lakh crore annually by 2025
PUNE Union minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur on Sunday said that “the media and entertainment ecosystem is a sunrise sector expected to generate Rs4 lakh crore annually by 2025 and reach $100 billion or Rs7.5 lakh crore by 2030.” He was speaking at the national conference on the ‘changing landscape of media and entertainment 2022’ held in Pune.
Thakur said that the rapidly expanding digital infrastructure in the country and the ongoing advancements taking place in the animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) sector have the potential to make India the preferred post-production hub of the media and entertainment industry. “A solid digital foundation for the AVGC sector is emerging across the country and the government has established a task force for the AVGC sector in order to develop world-class creative talent to meet domestic and global demand,” he said. The minister further said that the government of India has designated audio-visual services as one of the 12 champion service sectors and announced key policy measures aimed at nurturing sustained growth.
Thakur said that the radio, film and entertainment industry has huge employment opportunities as we leapfrog into the digital era of quality content creation. “Many jobs have emerged in the field such as video editing, colour grading, visual effects (VFX), sound design, rotoscoping and 3D modeling. Each job role in this sector requires a specific set of skills and competencies. It is imperative for industry and academia to come together and design programmes relevant to the needs of this sector” he said. The government is also exploring new partnerships with the private sector to ensure that Indian students are in tune with upcoming technology trends in the sector, he added.
About the ‘75 creative minds of tomorrow’ project undertaken during the International Film Festival of India 2021, Thakur said, “Several of those talents have been creatively contributing to the media and entertainment sector, and some have established successful start-ups.”
About the growing startup ecosystem in India, Thakur said that even during the Covid-19 pandemic, India added as many as 50 unicorn startups which spoke volumes about India’s entrepreneurial spirit. The minister said he hopes to see more and more startups emerging from the talent pool produced by leading film schools such as FTII and SRFTI.
India as a global content hub
The content creation industry in India has seen a massive uplift with ‘Digital India’, Thakur said. “With quality content, easy access and an eager audience, India is ready to narrate its own success story and become a content creation hub,” he said. The efforts of the technical people behind the scenes should be adequately recognised and rewarded, moving beyond our current focus on lead characters, he said.
Oscar and BAFTA awards’ winning sound designer Resul Pookutty was the guest of honour at the national conference. He said that educational institutions should revive the ancient Indian tradition of imparting wisdom to students to face the outside world, besides developing skill sets.
