'Regional languages content on OTT platforms growing significantly'

OTT platforms are growing significantly in various regional languages across India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju said on Wednesday.

In his keynote address at India Digital Summit (IDS) 2024, here, Jaju pointed out that there were over 60 OTT platforms in India, of which 30 per cent OTT originals were operating in regional languages. The number is expected to go up to 50 per cent this year.

He also said that the media and entertainment sector was a huge sector and played a pivotal role in the Indian economy.

"It's been growing phenomenally at a rate of 20 per cent and is approximately Rs 2 lakh crore. In that, the digital media segment is the second largest sub-segment, and has been showing a growth of approximately 30 per cent -- around Rs 60,000 crores -- and the film segment has a 25 per cent growth rate," he said.

Over 200 films were released on digital platforms in the last year, including 75 films which were released directly on digital platforms without a theatrical release, he added.

Regarding the growth of the digital gaming industry, Shri Jaju said, "The online gaming industry has been growing by 34 per cent and animation and VFX have close to around 30 per cent growth rate, expected to become a $2 billion industry by 2025.".

Jaju also announced some new initiatives that the government is taking to provide a boost to the media and entertainment sector in India. These include the setting up of a National Centre of Excellence in Maharashtra to create world-class media talent and an incentive scheme to attract international projects.