The Centre has constituted a task force for the promotion of the Animation , Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) sector under the aegis of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry. The task force, to be headed by the I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra, will submit its first action plan within 90 days, an official statement added.
The task force has been set up in line with the Centre’s Budget announcement, , recognising the sector’s employment generation potential. Its key mandate is to recommend measures to build domestic capacity to serve the domestic market as well as global demand.
“The creation of an AVGC Promotion Task Force with the participation of the Centre, state governments and key industry players will provide a focused thrust for the growth of the sector by driving institutional efforts to guide growth policies, establish standards for AVGC education, actively collaborate with industry and international AVGC institutes, and enhance the global positioning of the Indian AVGC industry,” the I&B Ministry said.
The Ministry said India has the potential to capture 5 per cent of the global market share by 2025 and to create 1.6 lakh new jobs annually.
The Secretaries of various Ministries including Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry, Department of Higher Education, Education Ministry, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade will be members of the task force.
It will make recommendations on AVGC policy, ways to boost employment opportunities, curriculum framework for graduation, PG and doctoral courses and skilling initiatives in collaboration with institutions and industry players. It will also recommend ways to facilitate promotion and market development activities for global reach, enhancing exports and the kind of incentives needed to attract FDI in the sector.
Seven industry representatives, 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; and Neeraj Roy, Managing Director and CEO of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, have been nominated to the task force.
“The AVGC Promotion Task Force includes the Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana governments, the heads of education bodies such as the All India Council of Technical Education, the National Council of Educational Research and Training and representatives of industry bodies -- MESC, FICCI and CII,” the official statement added.