The AVGC sector will be the superstar of the new era and the Ministry of Information  & Broadcasting is committed to support the Indian AVGC sector and play a facilitator’s role, said Neerja Sekhar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.

“We would like to know the expectations of the industry from the government to which we are committed to support as a facilitator,” said Neerja Sekhar at the second edition of CII Summit FX 2021.  

CII has been advocating for a National AVGC Policy to give a strong fillip to the AVGC sector by keeping in mind the requirements of 21st century. This resonated at the CII Summit FX 2021.

“We also need to collaborate with the states to promote AVGC businesses through various policy inputs. Promotion of skill sets in the sector has already been done by the Government of India through the Media and Entertainment Council,” stated Neerja Sekhar.

Neerja Sekhar emphasized that India has audiovisual coproduction treaties with 15 countries. “This can be a key for growth in this AVGC sector. We expect that these treaties will be leveraged with industry to strike more global partnerships.”

In 2020, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting granted official co-production status to Noah’s Ark– A Musical Adventure under the Indo Brazil Audio Visual Co-Production Treaty.

In 2021, animation feature film Mia & Me — The Hero of Centopia was given the recognition as a co-production film by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting under the Indo-German audiovisual Treaty.

Noah’s Ark– A Musical Adventure, a  co-production among Walter Salles’ Video Filmes and Caio and Fabiano Gullane’s production company Gullane, partnered with Indian animation studio Symbiosys Technologies, headed by CEO Naresh Kumar with studios in Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad.

The Hero of Centopia, is a co-production between Studio 100 Media GmbH, Studio B Animation Pty Ltd. and Broadvision Services Private Ltd.

“We hope that we can move further in this area to come up with extraordinary content, loved by not only the two co producing countries, but the rest of global audiences as well,” noted Neerja Sekhar.

“There’s so much content in our culture that we can actually learn about. Let’s look forward for promoting production of more creative and homespun stories, our  indigenous narratives and local languages, this sector can make India a hub for the toy industry, encouraging creation of digital games based on Indian characters and culture,” said Neerja Sekhar.

Speaking on the National Centre of Excellence for AVGC, Neerja Sekhar said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is setting up in Mumbai in partnership with the IIT Bombay is moving ahead and with  large number of courses for specialists, practitioners and beginners have been visualized and charted out.