Real shift in M&E sector driven by regional OTTs: Sanjay Jaju at Ficci Frames

The real shift in the media and entertainment segment has actually come in with the growth in the OTT segment, especially regional OTT, noted Sanjay Jaju, Secretary at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, at Ficci Frames 2024, in Mumbai.

He remarked that the West, the Middle East and down South, have become top international markets for Indian OTT content.

“We have close to 60 OTT platforms in our country and many of them are in regional languages also. The current count is about 2.5 billion dollars in the industry and foreign investment is also growing because a lot of content is now being made within our country,” he added.

He remarked that this would pave the way for looking at this particular sector as a chief contributor to India's ascendance amongst the global community of nations.

He also noted that the digital media segment is witnessing a growth of close to 30% YoY of the overall size of India's media and the entertainment sector which was predicted to reach about 2 lakh crores in FICCI Australia’s report last year in the 23rd edition.

“We have close to 90 crore internet users in our country. More than 60 crore smartphone users and more than 4 crore connected TV users,” he remarked.

Citing the government initiatives to promote the India M&E sector, he talked about amendments in the Cinematograph Act 1952 for strict parity against film piracy and the digital media ethics code rules 2021 for digital news publishers and the OTT platforms to address digital grievances.

He also addressed the increase of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit from 72% to 100% in the cable as well as the D2H sectors.

In the broadcasting realm, Jaju talked about the uplinking and the downlinking guidelines and the national AVGC policy, which he remarked, is in its advanced stage. He believed that the policy would facilitate investments and also protect intellectual property.

He also emphasised on setting up a national centre of excellence for animation and visual effects, gaming, comics and extended reality sector.

“I think this is going to create a world class talent pool for this particular segment. And it will also allow setting up of information centres and provide guidance to the industry in the segment,” he added.

He also talked about India setting the scene for production of foreign films through a scheme in which incentives are being given to foreign filmmakers to make films in India.

“I think this will also help us create cross-country linkages and also catapult us to showcase our soft power as a global community of nations.”

He shed light on the culture of film festivals and summarised all the above as the government’s way of promoting the Indian media and entertainment industry.

“I am absolutely confident that announcements like this actually would make us not just the world leader in terms of creating content for the media and entertainment sector, but to bring in multiplier effects and promote economic development in our country. As we move forward, I am absolutely sure that our focus will be on creating a conducive environment for the industry to thrive.”

He noted that the media and entertainment sector was a sunrise sector and also a ‘major industrial segment.’ He described it as a fairly unique segment, characterised by both growth and employment intensity.

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