The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has called on India’s media and entertainment industry to shift focus from domestic scale to creating original intellectual property and building companies that compete globally. Secretary Chanchal Kumar made this statement at the CII Big Picture Summit 2026 in Mumbai on 15 October, where the Confederation of Indian Industry also released a white paper outlining a roadmap for the sector to reach $100 billion by the early 2030s.
The push reflects the government’s view that India should leverage its storytelling traditions, cultural diversity and creative talent to become a major exporter of media content and companies, rather than remaining primarily a market where global firms sell content. This aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s WAVES 2025 vision of “Create In India, Create For The World”.
Key facts
- Target: $100 billion media and entertainment sector by early 2030s
- Summit date: 15 October 2026 in Mumbai
- Ministry: Information and Broadcasting
- Government initiatives mentioned: WAVES, WAVES Bazaar, Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), India Cine Hub
- WAVES Global Investor and Investee Meet connected over 150 investors and investees
- Nearly 20 participants from WaveX and WAVES Bazaar participated in investor connections
What the government wants to change
The Secretary emphasized that India should move “beyond scale” to focus on original intellectual property, sustainable business models and global market expansion. The current approach often treats India primarily as a large audience market for international producers. Instead, the government wants Indian companies to create content and technology that competes internationally and brings revenue back to India.
The vision includes a tagline: “Create in India. Own in India. Scale from India. Take it to the world.” This suggests the government wants Indian creators to retain ownership of their intellectual property while expanding globally, rather than selling rights to foreign companies.
Government support mechanisms
The Ministry is backing this shift through several initiatives. WAVES is a government scheme supporting media and entertainment businesses. WAVES Bazaar facilitates connections between creators and investors. The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies aims to build skilled talent in the sector. India Cine Hub supports film production infrastructure.
The government has also emphasized the importance of anti-piracy frameworks to protect creative works and intellectual property rights, which the Secretary called essential to the vision of creators owning and scaling their work from India.
Industry perspective on business models
Business leaders at the summit agreed that current models are insufficient. Gaurav Banerjee, MD and CEO of Sony Pictures Networks India, stated that “a large audience is, finally, just a starting point. It is not a business model.” He called for focus on actual audience value, measurable outcomes for advertisers and sustainable returns for investors.
Gunjan Soni, Country MD of YouTube India, emphasized that creativity and culture are economic strengths supporting India’s development ambitions. She noted that digital technology and artificial intelligence could help young creators turn local identity and imagination into globally competitive enterprises.
Rajan Navani, MD and CEO of JetSynthesys, highlighted the role of democratized access to technology and AI in enabling Indian creators to keep pace with global competition. He argued that AI is rapidly closing the gap between imagination and execution, allowing creators to realize ideas faster.
What this means for creators and investors
For content creators and production companies, the push means greater emphasis on building sustainable businesses with international revenue potential rather than relying on domestic advertising or licensing to foreign platforms. For investors, it signals government support for funding creative businesses positioned for global growth.
The CII white paper’s call for “faster reforms” suggests regulatory changes may be coming to ease business operations and international transactions for media companies. The focus on “regional markets” indicates potential support for non-Hindi content and regional language media.
What happens next
The WAVES Global Investor and Investee Meet is already connecting capital providers with emerging creative businesses. The government’s emphasis on implementation suggests active monitoring of sector growth toward the $100 billion target by the early 2030s.