India launches IICT to revolutionize AVGC-XR sector

In a transformative step toward positioning India as a global leader in the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) sector, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in collaboration with FICCI and CII, has unveiled the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT). The National Centre of Excellence, dedicated to advancing the AVGC-XR ecosystem, was formally launched at the WAVES Summit 2025 in Mumbai on Saturday. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnaw, flagged off strategic partnerships with global industry giants, including JioStar, Adobe, Google, YouTube, Meta, Wacom, Microsoft, and NVIDIA. These collaborations aim to bolster curriculum development, internships, scholarships, startup funding, and job placements, ensuring IICT emerges as a world-class institution akin to India’s prestigious IITs and IIMs.
Speaking at the inauguration, Minister Vaishnaw highlighted the initiative’s alignment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to establish India as a global hub for media and entertainment. “We have started an initiative that is completely novel in the world of film and entertainment. IICT will follow the template of IITs and IIMs to become a massive education and training hub for aspiring AVGC-XR professionals,” he said, expressing gratitude to industry partners for their commitment to long-term collaboration.
The ceremony saw the exchange of Letters of Intent (LoIs) between IICT representatives and industry leaders, including Richard Kerris (VP & GM, Media & Entertainment, NVIDIA), Sanjog Gupta (CEO, Sports & Live Experiences, JioStar), Mala Sharma (VP & GM – Education, Adobe), and Preeti Lobana (Country Head & VP, Google India). These partnerships aim to drive innovation, research, and development in animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, film, and extended reality, replicating India’s successful IT model in the creative and digital media space.