Lighting the Way for India’s Creative Economy

By Pickle October 11, 2025

Reflecting on KBC, IPL, and Baahubali as milestones, Gaurav Banerjee, Managing Director and CEO of Sony Pictures Networks India, underscores a ten-year innovation gap. His message: India’s creative sector must seize this moment, daring to deliver the next era-defining leap for audiences at home and worldwide

Amidst the hustle and energy of the 25th FICCI FRAMES in Mumbai, Gaurav Banerjee, Managing Director and CEO of Sony Pictures Networks India, took the stage with a message that was both urgent and visionary. “The topic for today is regulating the orange economy—or the creator of the universe,” he began, acknowledging that while the question of creative regulation isn’t new, it is now more central than ever before.

India’s media and entertainment sector, Gaurav Banerjee revealed, is currently valued at nearly $30 billion, contributing about 7% to the nation’s GDP and growing at a robust 7–8% annually. But there’s a catch: “Nearly all of this is just domestic demand,” he pointed out. The pressing question, then, is clear—what will it take for India’s creative industries to break out globally and scale up like never before?

Gaurav Banerjee posed two provocations for the future: “What is stopping us from birthing an at-scale, content phenomenon—the ‘IPL’ of entertainment, something global in ambition and deeply rooted in Indian stories? And how do we build an institutional framework to scale private investment in content, the way we did in pharma or IT?” His vision was bold: a Silicon Valley of creativity in India.

Gaurav Banerjee champions the need for a creative ecosystem modeled on the IPL—scouting, nurturing, and investing in authentic storytellers to unlock India’s vast reservoir of cultural and creative talent

Reflecting on the last 25 years, Gaurav Banerjee highlighted three inflection points in Indian content: the launch of KBC (Kaun Banega Crorepati) with a Bollywood superstar at its helm, the game-changing arrival of the IPL, and the rise of pan-Indian television and films like “Baahubali.” Yet, he observed, “The last of these big innovations happened ten years ago. For the last decade, we’ve been waiting for the next big leap.”

So, why the wait? And how can change accelerate? Gaurav Banerjee believes the answer lies in human capital. Citing Enrico Moretti’s “The New Geography of Jobs,” he argued that prosperity is increasingly determined by regions that attract and retain skilled workers, research, and innovation. He pointed to the IPL as a model—a league that systematically scouts, nurtures, and invests in talent, creating a world-class pipeline.

“This is the kind of ecosystem we need,” Gaurav Banerjee said. “An ecosystem that reaches the most rooted, most authentic storytellers and enables them to craft stories good enough for the world.” With India’s vast and vibrant cultural reservoir, he insisted, “our films, our music, and our digital creators should be watched, shared, and celebrated globally.”

Gaurav Banerjee spotlighted the Malayalam film industry as a living example, calling attention to the recent blockbuster “Loka Chapter One.” Made for less than ₹30 crore, it had already grossed over ₹300 crore—a testament to what’s possible when creativity is supported by a strong ecosystem. “Every year, there are at least two or three such films building up,” he said. “Loka is just one more chapter in the evolution of a great ecosystem.”

To realize its creative potential, Gaurav Banerjee calls for building institutions and talent pipelines, forging stronger partnerships between academia and industry, and investing in centers of excellence for content creation

To scale this success, Gaurav Banerjee laid out a roadmap:

Build creative institutions and centers of excellence that actively nurture talent through recruitment, scouting, and training.

Foster close collaboration between academia and industry so that innovation flows seamlessly from research to production.

Rethink regulation, making it enabling, not restrictive. “Globally, new tech is often allowed to flourish with a light touch. Creativity, paradoxically, is often over-regulated.”

At the heart of Gaurav Banerjee’s message was a call to modernize. “Why is the regulatory framework still anchored in a colonial past?” he asked. “Creative industries are no longer peripheral—they need to be central. They generate jobs, fuel innovation, export identity, and amplify India’s soft power.”

His rallying cry was clear: “If India is to rise in the next chapter of global leadership, we must rely on creativity and technology, investing in creativity with the same boldness and vision that we invest in new technologies.”

Gaurav Banerjee invited policymakers, leaders, and creators to champion this agenda, to push for reform, and to “think truly global in ambition.” For India’s creative economy to fulfill its promise, he insisted, “let it stand at the very heart of our growth story.”