India has emerged as global creative powerhouse due to top talent, tech: EY

India is rapidly emerging as a global creative powerhouse, driven by its talent pool, cultural richness, and technological advancements. According to the EY report titled "A Studio Called India", the country's media infrastructure is expanding, with animation and VFX costs in India being 40% to 60% lower than in the West, supported by a workforce of around 2,60,000 skilled professionals. Indian studios have contributed to major global films such as Avengers: Endgame and The Jungle Book, showcasing their high-end VFX and animation capabilities. The growth of Media Capability Centres (MCCs) is enabling specialised services like content localisation and immersive production. In the gaming sector, India had 488 million online gamers in 2024, with over 1,900 game development companies employing approximately 66,000 people. Indian firms support global players such as EA and Zynga, while homegrown studios are building their own titles for domestic and international markets. The report notes that global programming spend is expected to increase by 5.3% in 2025 to Rs. 17,37,198 crore (US$ 206 billion), driven by streaming giants like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+, with India positioned to play a larger role in this expansion across both subscription and ad-based models.
Indian studios are increasingly adopting AI for a variety of use cases, including content creation, personalisation, pricing, and marketing. The country's diverse market has become a testing ground for Big Tech to pilot AI-powered innovations. Studios are also deploying virtual production, real-time rendering, metaverse technologies, AR, VR, blockchain, and automation to deliver immersive, global-standard experiences. The report identifies experiential content, such as virtual events and holographic concerts, as a growing segment for VFX. India's educational infrastructure is evolving, with institutions such as FTII Pune and SRFTI Kolkata developing talent for the media sector. The formal media and entertainment (M&E) sector employ 2.8 million professionals, and the country has around 4,00,000 digital creators, each with more than 10,000 followers. Indian content is now distributed to over 100 countries via theatrical releases and major OTT platforms such as Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+, with Indian content featuring in Prime Video's global Top 10 every week in 2024 and eight out of 10 Indian series ranking in Netflix's Global Top 10 for non-English programming.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.