I&B Ministry constitutes AVGC Promotion Task Force

In pursuance of the announcement made in the Union Budget 2022-23, The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has constituted an Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) Promotion Task Force.

The Task Force constituted under the aegis of I&B Ministry will recommend ways to realise and build domestic capacity for serving our markets and the global demand.

It shall be headed by Secretary, I&B Ministry and will have Secretaries of

• Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship;
• Department of Higher Education; 
• Ministry of Education;
• Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and
• Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

The Task Force will also have widespread participation of Industry partners, as per a release by the Ministry, the partners include: Biren Ghosh, Country Head, Technicolor India; Ashish Kulkarni, Founder, Punaryug Artvision Pvt Ltd; Jesh Krishna Murthy, Founder and CEO Anibrain; Keitan Yadav, COO and VFX Producer, Redchillies VFX; Chaitanya Chinchlikar, Chief Technology Officer, Whistling Woods International; Kishore Kichili, Sr Vice-President and Country Head, Zynga India; Neeraj Roy, Managing Director and CEO of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment.

It also includes State governments of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana; heads of education bodies such as All India Council of Technical Education, National Council of Educational Research and Training and representatives of industry bodies-MESC, FICCI and CII.

As per the Ministry, the creation of an AVGC Promotion Task Force with participation of Government of India, State Governments and key industry players will provide focused thrust for the growth of the sector by driving the institutional efforts to guide the policies of growth for this sector, establish standards for AVGC education in India, actively collaborate with industry and international AVGC institutes, and enhance the global positioning of the Indian AVGC industry. 

The AVGC Promotion Task Force will submit its first action plan within 90 days. The terms of Reference of the Task Force include the following:

• Framing of a national AVGC policy,
• Recommend national curriculum framework for Graduation, Post-Graduation and Doctoral courses in AVGC related sectors,
• Facilitate skilling initiatives in collaboration with academic institutions, vocational training centers & Industry,
• Boost employment opportunities,
• Facilitate promotion and market development activities to extend global reach of Indian AVGC Industry,
• Enhance exports and recommend incentives to attract FDI in AVGC sector. 

The release added that the AVGC sector in India has the potential to become the torch bearer of “Create in India” and “Brand India”. India has the potential to capture 5% ($40 billion) of the global market share by the year 2025, with an annual growth of around 25-30% and creating over 1,60,000 new jobs annually. 

Earlier, during the course of her Union Budget speech in February 2022, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the government’s plans for setting up an AVGC Task Force.

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