India’s animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) ecosystem is set for a significant boost after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a ₹250-crore allocation to expand formal talent development across schools and colleges, signalling a push to institutionalize the country’s fast-growing creator economy.

As part of the Union Budget presented on Sunday, the government will support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), Mumbai, in setting up AVGC content creator labs across 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges nationwide. The initiative aims to build early, structured exposure to animation, visual storytelling and digital content creation.

Industry experts say culturally rooted formats and structured storytelling are increasingly driving engagement at scale, making early formal training critical to improving content quality and career sustainability.

According to a Ficci–EY report, India’s animation, VFX and post-production segment—a subset of the broader media and entertainment industry—was valued at ₹10,300 crore in 2024. IICT has also signed memorandums of understanding with YouTube, Netflix and US-based Deakin University in recent months.

The Budget push also builds on the Economic Survey’s assessment of the “orange economy” as a key growth driver within India’s media and entertainment sector, which industry estimates peg at around ₹2.5 trillion in 2024. Digital media now accounts for roughly one-third of sector revenues, driving demand for content production, post-production, visual effects (VFX), dubbing and localization integrated into global distribution networks, the survey said.

Industry view

Calling the move timely, Ankush Sachdeva, CEO and co-founder of ShareChat and Moj, said the proposal would help formalize India’s creator economy, which already influences over 30% of consumer purchase decisions and $350–400 billion in consumer spending.

“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 as creator-influenced spend moves towards $1 trillion by 2030,” he said.

The Budget’s focus on AVGC is also expected to strengthen India’s gaming ecosystem. Nitish Mittersain, managing director of Nazara Technologies, said the initiative could help build long-term industry capacity.

“Initiatives like setting up AVGC labs across schools and colleges and investing in large-scale skilling will help build strong grassroots talent and 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,” Mittersain said.

Rajan Navani, founder and CEO of JetSynthesys and a member of the IICT board, called the move a powerful step towards expanding India’s creative talent pool.

“Livelihood generation through new skills in the creative industries is a huge hedge to traditional job roles in Indian industry which are getting impacted through AI, global resets in supply chains and so on. This move can create new monetizable skills in content creation, animation, video game development teams which combine engineering with art, training to build esports athletes amongst many others,” Navani said.

Experts say the covid-19 pandemic marked a structural turning point for animation and gaming in India, permanently shifting consumption from television to smartphones across comics, animation and short-form storytelling.

Creators, meanwhile, are tapping crossover audiences across gaming, anime and manga communities, alongside rapid growth on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, where short animated clips and motion-comic teasers are driving millions of organic app downloads.

Storytelling reset

“The government’s emphasis on creative education and digital skill development is especially powerful. 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,” said Sanjay Gupta, creator of Indian Superheroes and co-founder of Raj Comics.

However, competing with games and short-form video has reshaped storytelling itself. Traditional long-form formats are giving way to fast, emotional, mobile-first narratives designed for vertical-scroll consumption.

In an earlier interview, Ambesh Tiwari, business head of Sony Kids and Animation at Sony Pictures Networks India, had pointed out that the theatrical success of animated films such as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle and Mahavatar Narsimha shows the 25–35 age group has emerged as an animation-ready audience, underscoring the need for more inclusive programming.

While AI is increasingly used in content production, experts caution against over-reliance.

“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,” said Dipankar Mukherjee, co-founder and CEO of AI-powered content studio Studio Blo.

“We need a strong pipeline of human talent trained in film language, animation, and narrative craft. Cities like Bhubaneshwar, Nashik, Lucknow, Surat and others can become serious talent hubs if pedagogy shifts towards real industry projects, fewer classroom hours, and treating students like professionals,” Mukherjee said, adding that ethical AI usage must be embedded into India’s digital backbone from day one.

India’s animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) ecosystem is set for a significant boost after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a ₹250-crore allocation to expand formal talent development across schools and colleges, signalling a push to institutionalize the country’s fast-growing creator economy.

As part of the Union Budget presented on Sunday, the government will support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), Mumbai, in setting up AVGC content creator labs across 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges nationwide. The initiative aims to build early, structured exposure to animation, visual storytelling and digital content creation.

Industry experts say culturally rooted formats and structured storytelling are increasingly driving engagement at scale, making early formal training critical to improving content quality and career sustainability.

According to a Ficci–EY report, India’s animation, VFX and post-production segment—a subset of the broader media and entertainment industry—was valued at ₹10,300 crore in 2024. IICT has also signed memorandums of understanding with YouTube, Netflix and US-based Deakin University in recent months.

The Budget push also builds on the Economic Survey’s assessment of the “orange economy” as a key growth driver within India’s media and entertainment sector, which industry estimates peg at around ₹2.5 trillion in 2024. Digital media now accounts for roughly one-third of sector revenues, driving demand for content production, post-production, visual effects (VFX), dubbing and localization integrated into global distribution networks, the survey said.

Industry view

Calling the move timely, Ankush Sachdeva, CEO and co-founder of ShareChat and Moj, said the proposal would help formalize India’s creator economy, which already influences over 30% of consumer purchase decisions and $350–400 billion in consumer spending.

“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 as creator-influenced spend moves towards $1 trillion by 2030,” he said.

The Budget’s focus on AVGC is also expected to strengthen India’s gaming ecosystem. Nitish Mittersain, managing director of Nazara Technologies, said the initiative could help build long-term industry capacity.

“Initiatives like setting up AVGC labs across schools and colleges and investing in large-scale skilling will help build strong grassroots talent and 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,” Mittersain said.

Rajan Navani, founder and CEO of JetSynthesys and a member of the IICT board, called the move a powerful step towards expanding India’s creative talent pool.

“Livelihood generation through new skills in the creative industries is a huge hedge to traditional job roles in Indian industry which are getting impacted through AI, global resets in supply chains and so on. This move can create new monetizable skills in content creation, animation, video game development teams which combine engineering with art, training to build esports athletes amongst many others,” Navani said.

Experts say the covid-19 pandemic marked a structural turning point for animation and gaming in India, permanently shifting consumption from television to smartphones across comics, animation and short-form storytelling.

Creators, meanwhile, are tapping crossover audiences across gaming, anime and manga communities, alongside rapid growth on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, where short animated clips and motion-comic teasers are driving millions of organic app downloads.

Storytelling reset

“The government’s emphasis on creative education and digital skill development is especially powerful. 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,” said Sanjay Gupta, creator of Indian Superheroes and co-founder of Raj Comics.

However, competing with games and short-form video has reshaped storytelling itself. Traditional long-form formats are giving way to fast, emotional, mobile-first narratives designed for vertical-scroll consumption.

In an earlier interview, Ambesh Tiwari, business head of Sony Kids and Animation at Sony Pictures Networks India, had pointed out that the theatrical success of animated films such as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle and Mahavatar Narsimha shows the 25–35 age group has emerged as an animation-ready audience, underscoring the need for more inclusive programming.

While AI is increasingly used in content production, experts caution against over-reliance.

“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,” said Dipankar Mukherjee, co-founder and CEO of AI-powered content studio Studio Blo.

“We need a strong pipeline of human talent trained in film language, animation, and narrative craft. Cities like Bhubaneshwar, Nashik, Lucknow, Surat and others can become serious talent hubs if pedagogy shifts towards real industry projects, fewer classroom hours, and treating students like professionals,” Mukherjee said, adding that ethical AI usage must be embedded into India’s digital backbone from day one.