Bonanza for content creators! Modi govt to set up billion-dollar fund

New Delhi: Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said the Union government will create a billion-dollar fund for the creator's economy as part of the World Audio-Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025.

The summit, which will be held in Mumbai from May 1 to 4, will give the creators' community a platform to create high value content, the minister said at a high-level session on WAVES 2025 organised here at the Sushma Swaraj Bhawan.

Addressing a high-level session on WAVES 2025, organised here at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, Vaishnaw said, “The Summit will give the creators’ community a platform to create high-value content.” The session was organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to engage the international community ahead of the summit.

India is positioning WAVES, to be held from May 1 to 4 in Mumbai, as the first convergence platform for the media and entertainment sector on the lines of the World Economic Forum at Davos, a gathering of international leaders from governance and business.

The Minister also said Rs 391 crore earmarked for the country’s maiden Indian Institute of Creative Technology to be set up in Goregaon film city Mumbai to identify and nurture creative talent in India.

Vaishnaw said the ‘Create in India Challenge’, a precursor to the WAVES, had received over 25 lakh submissions and more than 80,000 creators moved to the next level of the challenge.

Of the 80,000 entries, 1,000 participants will feature in the finals of the various challenges that will be held during the WAVES summit, the minister said. The vision behind this initiative was to bring together the creative world and modern technological usage to create unique content, he added.

Vaishnaw also highlighted that over 100 countries are participating in the summit, a confluence of tech, media and entertainment.