M&E industry sees ‘confidence to dream bigger’ as Budget pushes creator skilling

New Delhi: The Union Budget 2026–27 has triggered a clear theme in the media and entertainment (M&E) industry’s reaction: the government may not be offering direct sector sops, but it is investing in the building blocks that decide who wins in a creator-led, platform-fragmented content economy.

At the centre of that response is Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement to support setting up AVGC Content Creator Labs across 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges under the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), Mumbai. 

Industry voices say the move formalises content creation as a mainstream career pathway and creates a pipeline for animation, VFX, gaming, comics and immersive storytelling.

Alongside the lab rollout, the Budget has set aside Rs 250 crore for talent development in the AVGC sector, signalling intent to move from sporadic skilling to institutional capacity building.

Shemaroo Entertainment COO Arghya Chakravarty framed the announcement as a creative economy confidence signal, not a narrow skilling headline. “This Budget is a turning point for India’s creative economy,” he said. “What excites me most is the recognition that storytelling, digital content, and cultural expression are real engines of growth.” 

Chakravarty said the industry is now looking at “a future where India not only produces content for itself but also sets global benchmarks,” and called the support “the confidence to dream bigger and invest in talent that can shine worldwide.”

For OTT players, the Budget’s creator pipeline is being read alongside its broader push to blend culture, technology and enterprise. Pratap Jain, Founder and CEO, ChanaJor OTT, said, “Budget 2026 shows that creativity and enterprise are now intertwined with India’s growth story.” 

He added that “from skill-building to heritage digitization, the government is creating an ecosystem where ideas, culture, and technology come together,” and called it a moment for the industry to “embrace new opportunities” and help position India as “a hub of innovation and creativity on the global stage.”

PwC India’s Chief Clients Officer and TMT Leader Manpreet Singh Ahuja linked the AVGC lab proposal to scale advantages in gaming and immersive formats. He said the Orange Economy push, “especially AVGC content creator labs across 15,000 schools and 500 colleges,” could create a pipeline for India to lead in “content, gaming, and immersive storytelling.” Ahuja added that taken together, these measures can strengthen the TMT flywheel, “better infrastructure, better innovation, better trust, and better growth”, and accelerate India’s Viksit Bharat goals.

The Budget’s technology signals also drew attention from AdTech and innovation-led firms that operate within the M&E value chain. Prrincey Roy, Co-Founder & CEO, Huella Services, said, “It is encouraging to see that the government has placed strong emphasis on artificial intelligence as a driver of inclusive growth and national progress.” 

Roy added, “Today, AI is at the forefront of innovations in the Adtech industry.” He pointed to the government backing national AI and research missions alongside “quantum and deep-tech innovation,” calling it “a clear intent to future-proof India’s growth story.” 

For startups, Roy said the sustained focus on R&D and emerging tech creates “a more confident environment to scale solutions” with national and global impact.

Founder-led creator businesses also underlined the importance of building skills early and widening access beyond metros. Khushboo Mulani, Founder & ShEO, Slay Media, said the Budget “provides our brand and all creators and entrepreneurs with essential resources to pursue innovation while growing their businesses.” 

She called the AVGC creator labs plan empowering for “future digital and creative talent,” and highlighted the announcement of a new Institute of Design in the eastern region as a specialised skills addition for the creative economy.

The broader logic, industry leaders say, is that content growth is now inseparable from capability: trained creators, better production depth, and tech-enabled workflows.

For the M&E industry, that framing matters because it connects Budget announcements to day-to-day execution. As consumption blurs across screens and formats, studios and platforms need a deeper bench of creators, faster pipelines, and stronger technology layers to develop original content, localise at scale, and monetise efficiently.

Executives said the Budget’s message is straightforward: if India wants to lead globally in content and digital creativity, the work starts with talent infrastructure, built early, built at scale, and backed by emerging technology.