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AVGC Task Force created: first action plan deadline 90 days

Recently, the Ministry of I&B of India constituted the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) Promotion Task Force.

In the Union Budget 2022-2023, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the need for a task force to promote the sector.

This sector in India has the potential to become the torch bearer of creating in India and Brand India. India has the potential to capture 5% (~$40 billion) of the global market share by the year 2025, with an annual growth of around 25-30% and creating over 1,60,000 new jobs annually.

The creation of this task force will result in a much needed framing of a national AVGC policy, even promoting a national curriculum framework for Graduation, Post-Graduation and Doctoral courses in AVGC related sectors.

Formalising the entire sector, it can lead to the facilitation of skilling initiatives in collaboration with academic institutions, vocational training centres, and industry.

While this will boost employment opportunities, it will also facilitate promotion and market development activities to extend the global reach of the Indian AVGC Industry, enhancing exports and recommending incentives to attract FDI in the AVGC sector.

While this will boost employment opportunities, it will also facilitate promotion and market development activities to extend the global reach of the Indian AVGC Industry, enhancing exports and recommending incentives to attract FDI in the AVGC sector

“We are super excited to see the speed with which things are transforming in regards to the video games/AVGC sector in India; it was only on February 1st 2022 when our Hon’ble Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman Ji announced to form an AVGC Task force and within a short span of just two months, we have a task force in place with the relevant industry veterans on board in the core team,” Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India and Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF), said, welcoming this news.

“ESFI welcomes this first official step to unlock the true potential of India towards Create in India, Brand in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat in the AVGC sector, which directly helps us unlock the potential for esports also. ESFI will continue to actively support such initiatives,” he added.

According to the Ministry of I&B, the creation of the Task Force with participation of Government of India, State Governments and key industry players “will provide focused thrust for the growth of the sector by driving the institutional efforts to guide the policies of growth for this sector, establish standards for AVGC education in India, actively collaborate with industry and international AVGC institutes, and enhance the global positioning of the Indian AVGC industry.”

The Task Force is to submit its first action plan within 90 days.

Navanwita Bora Sachdev

Navanwita is the editor of The Tech Panda who also frequently publishes stories in news outlets such as The Indian Express, Entrepreneur India, and The Business Standard