<p>Bengaluru: In a major boost for the orange economy and creative industries, Finance Minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/nirmala-sitharaman">Nirmala Sitharaman</a> proposed to support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai, in setting up AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics) content creator labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges.</p><p>She highlighted the rapid growth of the country's AVGC sector. The industry is projected to require nearly 2 million professionals by 2030.</p><p>Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/ashwini-vaishnaw">Ashwini Vaishnaw</a>, addressing the media on the Union Budget announcements, said that IICT Mumbai, established on the lines of IITs and IIMs, will connect with 15,000 schools and 500 colleges through Creators’ Labs, creating 20 lakh new jobs.</p><p>The 'orange economy' refers to the part of the economy driven by creativity, culture and intellectual property.</p>.Union Budget 2026: In Budget, Nirmala Sitharaman announces rare earth corridor for Tamil Nadu.<p>The focus on the orange economy and the proposed Education-to-Employment Enterprises Committee signals strong intent to build a future-ready workforce, said Sanjay Padode, Chairman, Sankalp Group. </p><p>"Initiatives such as university townships, AVGC labs, and skill-focused programmes will further equip students for high-growth sectors and strengthen India’s services-led, innovation-driven economy,” he added.</p><p>Waman Parkhi, Partner, Indirect Tax, KPMG in India, said the budget speech underscores the importance given to employment under most of the initiatives announced by the Finance Minister. </p><p>"This is evident in support to employment centred MSMEs and within that sectors like Textiles, training of caregivers, promotion of Ayurveda exports and medical tourism within health sector, special tourism related National Institute of Hospitality which can provide core strength to the employment-heavy tourism sector, pilot scheme for guides at tourist places, support to coconut farming and processing which provides livelihood to 30 million people or new age employment driven creative sector like AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Cartoons) which may provide employment for 2 million people by 2030," he added.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: In a major boost for the orange economy and creative industries, Finance Minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/nirmala-sitharaman">Nirmala Sitharaman</a> proposed to support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai, in setting up AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics) content creator labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges.</p><p>She highlighted the rapid growth of the country's AVGC sector. The industry is projected to require nearly 2 million professionals by 2030.</p><p>Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/ashwini-vaishnaw">Ashwini Vaishnaw</a>, addressing the media on the Union Budget announcements, said that IICT Mumbai, established on the lines of IITs and IIMs, will connect with 15,000 schools and 500 colleges through Creators’ Labs, creating 20 lakh new jobs.</p><p>The 'orange economy' refers to the part of the economy driven by creativity, culture and intellectual property.</p>.Union Budget 2026: In Budget, Nirmala Sitharaman announces rare earth corridor for Tamil Nadu.<p>The focus on the orange economy and the proposed Education-to-Employment Enterprises Committee signals strong intent to build a future-ready workforce, said Sanjay Padode, Chairman, Sankalp Group. </p><p>"Initiatives such as university townships, AVGC labs, and skill-focused programmes will further equip students for high-growth sectors and strengthen India’s services-led, innovation-driven economy,” he added.</p><p>Waman Parkhi, Partner, Indirect Tax, KPMG in India, said the budget speech underscores the importance given to employment under most of the initiatives announced by the Finance Minister. </p><p>"This is evident in support to employment centred MSMEs and within that sectors like Textiles, training of caregivers, promotion of Ayurveda exports and medical tourism within health sector, special tourism related National Institute of Hospitality which can provide core strength to the employment-heavy tourism sector, pilot scheme for guides at tourist places, support to coconut farming and processing which provides livelihood to 30 million people or new age employment driven creative sector like AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Cartoons) which may provide employment for 2 million people by 2030," he added.</p>