India’s AVGC-XR Policy: Boosting Sector Growth and Global Competitiveness

Speaking at a Business Standard event, he said, “National AVGC-XR Policy will soon be coming out along with a National AVGC-XR Mission and till such time the Centre will support the sector with robust policies and financial backing.”

“The policy is envisaged to give a comprehensive framework that could boost the AVGC sectors and make it poised to be in the league of global competition in an enabling environment of infrastructure development, skill enhancement, innovation, and supportive regulatory measures,” he said at the 5th Global AVGC and Immersive Media Summit 2024, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi.

AVGC-XR stands for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and XR for eXtended Reality. This is closely following up on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independency speech, where he highlighted that India has the capacity to be a big competitor in the global playing field for online gaming. The Centre has already set up an AVGC Promotion Task Force to guide policy formation in these sectors.

In December 2022, the task force recommended that a National AVGC-XR Mission with a budget outlay be created aimed at the “integrated promotion and growth” of the sector.

Also revealed was a report—called “FX & Beyond: Shaping India’s AVGC Landscape”— which projected that the sector will create more than 160,000 new job opportunities every year, leading to a total of 2 million by 2030. The report was prepared by CII in association with Grant Thornton Bharat. It did, however, propose the formation of a National AVGC-XR Mission and the taking up of initiatives for the creation of a time-bound roadmap for the realization of the full potential of the sector.

“It must clearly be able to answer how we want to market and brand our content uniquely, so that it appeals to the global market,” the report said.

Expressing at the event, Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary, Ministry of Skills and Entrepreneurship, said, “the decision of the Centre to overhaul 1,000 ITIs is pivotal so that it can have its workforce skills aligned vis-à-vis the needs of the AVGC industry”. “[This move] will bring us closer toward the development of skills and regional growth which we possess in grandiose ways to enhance the capability and job opportunities concerning this sector,” he added.

It had also advocated strengthening intellectual property rights to keep the best talent and content in India. It also suggested the establishment of a National Centre of Excellence that can foster innovation in the sector and enhance global competitiveness.