Mumbai : 15 October 2026

Shri Chanchal Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, today called upon the media and entertainment industry to move beyond scale and focus on original intellectual property (IP), sustainable business models and global market expansion, with the objective of positioning India as a leading source of creative content, technology, talent and globally competitive media companies.

Addressing the inaugural session of the two day CII Big Picture Summit 2026, themed “The New Economics of Media and Entertainment: Building India’s Future Global Media Companies”, Shri Chanchal Kumar said India has the opportunity to translate its rich storytelling traditions, cultural diversity and creative talent into lasting economic and cultural value.

He linked the summit theme to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s WAVES 2025 vision of “Create In India, Create For The World”, emphasising both innovation and trust. Highlighting the Government’s efforts to strengthen India’s creative ecosystem, Shri Chanchal Kumar referred to initiatives such as WAVES, WAVES Bazaar, the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) and India Cine Hub. He also underscored the importance of a robust anti-piracy framework to protect creativity and intellectual property, emphasising the vision of “Create in India. Own in India. Scale from India. Take it to the world.”

The summit also witnessed the release of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) White Paper, The New Economics of Media & Entertainment, which outlines a roadmap for India’s media and entertainment sector to reach $100 billion by the early 2030s. The paper calls for faster reforms, stronger regional markets and measurable implementation to accelerate the sector’s growth.

Mr Gaurav Banerjee, Summit Chair and MD & CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India, called for a fundamental rethink of business models. “A large audience is, finally, just a starting point. It is not a business model.”He urged greater focus on audience value, measurable advertiser outcomes and sustainable investor returns.

Ms Gunjan Soni, Summit Co-Chair and Country MD, YouTube India, described creativity and culture as economic strengths supporting India’s “Viksit Bharat” ambition. She said digital technology and AI could help a young generation of creators turn imagination and local identity into world-class enterprises.

Mr Rajan Navani, Summit Co-Chair and MD & CEO, JetSynthesys, said democratised access to technology and AI was essential to keeping pace with global change. AI, he said, was rapidly narrowing the gap between human imagination and the ability to realise ideas.

Shri Chanchal Kumar also inaugurated the WAVES Global Investor and Investee Meet, bringing together more than 150 investors and investees. The initiative connected nearly 20 participants from WaveX and WAVES Bazaar, strengthening links between capital providers and emerging creative businesses.

PIB Mumbai | Sidharth Bodke/ Edgar Coelho/ Priti Malandkar

Follow us on social media: @PIBMumbai    /PIBMumbai    /pibmumbai  pibmumbai[at]gmail[dot]com  /PIBMumbai    /pibmumbai