In a first, animation and gaming segment finds place in Budget 2022

FM Sitharaman announces setting up of promotion task force in this space, industry hails move

For the first time ever the animation, visual effects, gaming and comic (AVCG) segment found mention in an Union Budget. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech announced that a promotion task force will be setup for the animation, visual effects, gaming and comics as the sector offers immense potential for employment.  

This announcement has sent a wave of cheer among several startups especially in the gaming sector, which have been battling with several state governments on their status as industry.  

"We welcome the budget's focus on promoting startups and giving impetus to the Digital Economy. The taskforce for promoting the AVGC sector will provide the much-needed clarity and certainty for the Fantasy Sports and Esports sectors by providing more upskilling and career opportunities for the youth to be a part of India's Sunshine sectors” said Harsh Jain, CEO and co-founder of Dream11 and Dream Sports.

The pandemic and Covid-19 forced restrictions have made several users change their entertainment habits, which has meant a higher user uptick in gaming—both casual gaming and skill based gaming.

For instance, at the recently concluded IAMAI Digital Summit Jain of Dream11 said that fantasy sports companies invested Rs 3,000 crore in media rights, sponsoring teams, leagues, players among others.  

According to the “India Gaming Report 2021” by consulting firm RedSeer and Lumikai, the first India-based gaming and interactive media venture fund, the country’s gaming market is set to become $7billion in FY2026, more than three times of its value in FY2021. Sai Srinivas, Co-Founderand CEO, Mobile Premier League (MPL) on the budget said: “It is very encouraging to see that the Union Budget has taken into consideration some of the long-pending suggestions for the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC)sector, while noting the strong potential this industry holds for employment-generation as well as taking ‘Made in India’ game titles global.”

He further added: “We welcome the Hon’ble Finance Minister's announcement to set up an AVGC Promotion Task Force to provide a much-needed boost to thesector. This announcement highlights the need to build capacity to serve both domestic and global markets, and is a strong indicator of the impetus that the government is willing to provide for its growth. Moreover, it will also help develop a workforce of young and employable AVGC professionals to usher in the next tech revolution from within India.”

AnwarShirpurwala, CEO, Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports – India’s onlyself-regulatory body for fantasy sports said: "As a fast-growing industry,fantasy sports has created an economic impact driven by its size and scale.Over the next few years, the fantasy sports industry is capable of cumulatively contributing Rs 11,000 crore in taxes including GST and TDS to the government exchequer, attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth over Rs 10,000 crore and creating 12,000 additional jobs by generating employment opportunities for individuals skilled in fields like graphic design, motionDesign, creative writing, storytelling, user experience researchers, data analysts, software programmers so on and so forth.”

Shirpurwala said that the budget announcement aligns with the growth of this emerging industry. “Having said that, we look forward to 2022 to cater to the need for regulations through holistic policy guidelines for its long-term growth and sustainability to compete on a global scale," said he.