Creative opportunities: India's AVGC sector moves up the value chain

The larger opportunity lies in the rapid expansion of the AVGC ecosystem. India's media & entertainment sector was estimated at around ₹2.5 trn in 2024 and is projected to reach about ₹3 trn by 2027

Netflix recently launched a facility of Eyeline Studios in Hyderabad, underscoring that India’s animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics (AVGC) industry is moving up the value chain. Equipped with advanced visual effects and virtual-production infrastructure, the centre will function as part of Eyeline’s global network, which includes Los Angeles, Vancouver, London, and Seoul. For India, the significance lies not only in the physical investment but also in what it signals. Global studios now see the country not merely as a low-cost outsourcing base but as a location capable of contributing to high-end digital storytelling and production pipelines. Hyderabad’s emergence as the site of this investment is itself revealing. As it is, the city hosts a mix of technology firms, film studios, and visual-effect companies, providing the creative and engineering capabilities required for a modern production ecosystem. The arrival of Eyeline reinforces the role of such clusters in shaping the next phase of India’s creative industries, where film culture, digital technology, and global content demand intersect.

 

The larger opportunity lies in the rapid expansion of the AVGC ecosystem. India’s media & entertainment sector was estimated at around ₹2.5 trillion in 2024 and is projected to reach about ₹3 trillion by 2027. Digital media already accounts for a growing share of revenues as streaming platforms, gaming networks, and creator-driven platforms reshape the way content is produced and consumed. Within this landscape, the animation & visual-effect segment alone generated about ₹10,300 crore in 2024 and is expected to grow at a healthy pace. Gaming, another pillar of the AVGC framework, too, is expanding at a faster pace. India’s large base of smartphone users and a young population make it one of the world’s largest gaming markets by user numbers. Equally important is the sector’s employment potential. The government estimates that the sector could require close to two million professionals by 2030, reflecting its labour-intensive nature. Unlike many traditional sectors, AVGC combines creative skills with advanced digital capabilities, generating opportunities for artists, coders, designers, and engineers simultaneously.

 

The government also recognises the need for a dedicated talent pool. In the 2026-27 Union Budget, for instance, support has been proposed for the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies in Mumbai, with plans to establish AVGC content-creator labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges across the country. The aim is to integrate animation, gaming, and digital storytelling skills with mainstream education and expose students early to emerging technologies. The convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), immersive technologies, and digital platforms is accelerating this transition. AI-assisted editing, multilingual dubbing tools, generative design systems, and virtual production environments are shortening production cycles while expanding the reach of content across languages and markets. For a country with deep storytelling traditions and a large pool of technically trained workers, this offers an opportunity to move further up the value chain of the global entertainment business. The entry of global studios such as Netflix into India’s AVGC ecosystem highlights that creative technology is capable of generating export revenues, high-skill employment, and new forms of digital intellectual property.