In a significant move to institutionalize India's rapidly expanding creator economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a substantial ₹250-crore allocation in the Union Budget 2026. This investment is specifically earmarked to establish AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics) content creator laboratories across an extensive network of 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges throughout the country.
Formalizing Talent Development in Creative Industries
The initiative, to be spearheaded by the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) in Mumbai, represents a strategic push to provide early and structured exposure to digital content creation, visual storytelling, and animation. This formal training framework is designed to build a robust talent pipeline from the grassroots level, addressing the growing demand for skilled professionals in India's media and entertainment landscape.
Industry Context and Economic Impact
According to a recent Ficci-EY report, India's animation, VFX, and post-production segment was valued at approximately ₹10,300 crore in 2024. The broader media and entertainment sector is estimated to be worth around ₹2.5 trillion, with digital media now constituting roughly one-third of total revenues. This digital shift is driving unprecedented demand for content production, visual effects, dubbing, and localization services integrated into global distribution networks.
The Budget's focus on the "orange economy"—creative industries identified as key growth drivers in the Economic Survey—signals the government's recognition of the sector's economic potential. Industry experts highlight that creator-influenced consumer spending already impacts over 30% of purchase decisions, representing $350-400 billion in expenditure, with projections suggesting this could approach $1 trillion by 2030.
Industry Leaders Welcome the Initiative
Ankush Sachdeva, CEO and co-founder of ShareChat and Moj, described the proposal as "timely" and emphasized its potential to formalize India's creator economy. "By enabling early, formal training in animation, visual storytelling and short-form content creation, this initiative will help unlock the next phase of creator-led commerce," he stated.
Nitish Mittersain, Managing Director of Nazara Technologies, noted that the AVGC labs would help build long-term industry capacity. "This is not just about employment—it's about creating original Indian IP, strengthening our creative economy, and positioning Bharat as a global hub for gaming and interactive entertainment," he explained.
Rajan Navani, founder and CEO of JetSynthesys and an IICT board member, called the move "a powerful step towards expanding India's creative talent pool." He highlighted how new skills in creative industries could serve as a hedge against traditional job roles being impacted by AI and global supply chain resets, creating monetizable opportunities in content creation, animation, and video game development.
Post-Pandemic Transformation and Storytelling Evolution
The COVID-19 pandemic marked a structural turning point for animation and gaming in India, accelerating the shift from television to smartphone consumption across comics, animation, and short-form storytelling. Creators are increasingly tapping crossover audiences from gaming, anime, and manga communities, with platforms like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts driving millions of organic downloads through short animated clips and motion-comic teasers.
This digital consumption shift has fundamentally reshaped storytelling approaches. Traditional long-form formats are giving way to fast, emotional, mobile-first narratives designed for vertical-scroll consumption. Sanjay Gupta, creator of Indian Superheroes and co-founder of Raj Comics, emphasized the educational value: "When young minds gain early exposure to animation, gaming, and comics, they are not just learning tools—they are learning how to imagine, innovate, and build worlds of their own."
Addressing Quality Gaps and Ethical Considerations
Despite technological advancements, industry experts caution against over-reliance on AI in content production. Dipankar Mukherjee, co-founder and CEO of AI-powered content studio Studio Blo, noted: "While studios are producing content at scale, there's a visible gap in design maturity, storytelling depth, and world-building quality. Technology alone won't close that gap."
Mukherjee stressed the need for "a strong pipeline of human talent trained in film language, animation, and narrative craft," suggesting that cities like Bhubaneswar, Nashik, Lucknow, and Surat could emerge as serious talent hubs with pedagogical shifts toward real industry projects and professional treatment of students. He also emphasized that ethical AI usage must be embedded into India's digital infrastructure from the outset.
The initiative builds on IICT's recent collaborations, including memorandums of understanding with YouTube, Netflix, and US-based Deakin University, further strengthening India's position in the global creative economy.
