M&E sector will lead the way to the Indian growth story, says I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra

We have invited the Abu Dhabi Film Corporation to set up an office in India so that Indian media houses can benefit from their facilities, said Apurva Chandra, Secretary, I&B Ministry.

Chandra was speaking at the launch of the 21st edition of the FICCI-EY M&E Sector Report during the Media & Entertainment fortnight at the India Pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai.

He said, “We have invited the Abu Dhabi Film Corporation to set up an office in India so that Indian media houses can avail their facilities. We look forward to collaborating with the UAE so that we can enhance our production values and take it to the next level.”

“The Government of India has recently approved the Champion Sector Scheme for Indian film content, where the incentives have been approved for Co-production and for those shooting in India. With this policy, and NFDC (National Film Development Corporation) being a single nodal point for film facilitation coupled with the state incentives can go a long way in attracting investment in the sector. With the right resources, skilled manpower, and right set of investors, the sector will lead the way to the Indian growth story,” Chandra added.

Arvind Singh, Secretary, Tourism, Government of India, also virtually addressed the session and said that there is a lot of potential and demand in Indian states to attract film production. As per Singh, states have come out with liberal film promotion policies where incentives and other initiatives are being taken to facilitate film production in the country. Given the budget-friendly and infrastructural advantages provided by India, he also invited representatives of the global M&E industry to shoot in India.

Further, Sunjay Sudhir, Ambassador of India to UAE, said that the Media & Entertainment fortnight at India Pavilion is going to leave a lasting impact on the visitors. He congratulated the I&B Ministry on successful display of the sector at the Pavilion.

Addressing the session, Jyoti Deshpande, CEO, Viacom 18 and Co- Chair, FICCI M&E Committee, said, “It has been a resounding year for the M&E sector as it has grown by 16% and is almost back to pre-pandemic levels.”

“The definition of Creator Economy itself changed to include bloggers, vloggers, influencers and creators. From micro to nano creators who use social media platforms to engage with fandom and create audiences of their own. Now the monetization of social commerce, which has just begun, remains to be seen in the next few years. As per the Report, digital media firmly established itself as the second-largest segment. The Government of India is trying to introduce policies so that India is attractiveness for business in this sector increases,” Deshpande added.

The findings of the report were presented by Jay Sampat, Lead Markets, M&E, EY India. The session was also attended by Vikram Sahay, Joint Secretary, I&B Ministry, R Madhavan, Actor and Director, Bobby Bedi, film Producer and Vikram Chandra, Founder, Editorji.

In addition to this session, the India Pavilion also hosted sessions titled, ‘Future of Media & Entertainment’ with Shekhar Kapur, Film Director and Chairman, FTII; Opportunities in Media Start-ups in India; Animation and VFX – how India can become the content back office for the world and how India is uniquely positioned for the same; The Game Changers: Defining Trends of the Indian Gaming Ecosystem and Telling stories together: The potential for content production and creation between India and UAE.

A session on upcoming movie Rocketry (Nambi Effect) was also held with actor Madhavan and Nambi Narayanan.

As part of the fortnight, the I&B Ministry is organising various events covering areas including Film, Broadcasting, Events, and OTT among others.

The M&E fortnight will conclude on 31st March.

To know more about India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, viewers can visit- www.indiaexpo2020.com/.

Meanwhile, the FICCI-EY M&E Sector Report states that the Indian M&E sector grew 16.4% in 2021 to reach Rs 1.61 trillion ($ 21.5 billion). It goes on to add that, assuming no further impact of the pandemic, the sector is expected to grow 17% in 2022 to reach Rs 1.89 trillion ($ 25.2 billion) and recover its 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

These, along with several other key insights, were presented at the launch of the 21st edition of the FICCI-EY M&E Sector Report.

As per the report, the Indian M&E sector is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13% and add Rs 707 billion in three years to reach Rs 2.32 trillion ($ 30.9 billion) by 2024. As per it, the key contributors to this growth will be digital, films and television (together adding 65% of the growth), followed by animation and VFX (14%) and online gaming (7%). By 2024, India’s advertising market is expected to reach Rs 1 trillion ($ 13.1 billion).

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