YouTube paid ₹21,000 crore to Indian creators over the last three years

Indian content is also finding a growing audience overseas. According to the company, videos produced in India generated 4,500 crore hours of watch time from viewers outside the country in past year

YouTube Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Neal Mohan on Thursday called India as the powerhouse in entertainment as the company announced investment of ₹850 crore in the next two years to accelerate the growth of India’s creator economy. The company has paid ₹21,000 crore to Indian creators, artists, and media companies over the last three years.

 

“YouTube’s ability to connect a creator anywhere with audiences everywhere has made it a powerful engine of cultural export, and a few nations have leveraged it as effectively as India has,” said Mohan at the inaugural World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) being held in Mumbai.

 

He underscored India's emergence as a "Creator Nation” — over 10 crore channels in the country uploaded content in the past year, and more than 15,000 of these surpassed one million subscribers. “Today, India isn't just a world leader for film and music, it's rapidly becoming what I'm excited to call a “Creator Nation," he added. 

 

Indian content is also finding a growing audience overseas. According to the company, videos produced in India generated 4,500 crore hours of watch time from viewers outside the country in the past year.

 

Mohan emphasised how YouTube has empowered these creators to transform their passions into successful businesses, and cultivate loyal global fandoms.

 

“A few days ago, on April 23, we marked the 20th anniversary of the first video ever released on YouTube. It is really hard to imagine how much of the world and YouTube has changed in these two short decades,” Mohan said.