The Indian media and entertainment industry is projected to grow at 18 per cent to reach $25 billion in 2011 from the current $11 billion, making it the fastest growing M&E sector globally, a CII-AT Kearney report released on the eve of the 38th International Film Festival of India said.

The boom in the industry, fuelled by digitalisation, corporatisation, consolidation and changing customer preferences, comes on the back of rising income levels in India and the dynamic spending patterns of the young and upwardly mobile, says the report.

Riding high on the international success of Bolywood blockbusters Om Shanti Om (OSO) and Sawaariya — OSO became the first Indian film ever to top the international (non-US) charts grossing $20 million in the first week — the Indian film industry senses it is poised to become a truly global entertainment entity. “The trend in visible. This is a leap forward,” CII National Films Committee chairman Bobby Bedi said.

The Indian film industry produces over 1000 films a year, the most in the world, and ranks highest in ticket sales as well, with 3.7 billion tickets sold against 1.4 billion in the United States in 2006.

Television and film are the key growth drivers in the in the M&E sector, the A T Kearney report says. Over 60 per cent of Indian households — 120 million — are tuned in to TVs, 60 million households are plugged in to cable TV.