India hosted the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 from May 1 to 4 as a flagship global initiative of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to strengthen the media, entertainment and creative economy. The summit saw participation from over 90 countries, with more than 10,000 delegates, 1,000 creators, 300 companies and 350 startups, and an overall footfall of around one lakh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described WAVES as a “wave of culture, creativity and universal connectivity,” reiterating India’s vision of “Create in India, Create for the World.” He invited global creators, investors and young professionals to engage with India’s expanding creative ecosystem.
The summit brought together stakeholders from broadcasting, films, AVGC-XR, digital media and infotainment, positioning India as a global hub for content creation and innovation.
CreatoSphere and Create in India Challenges
A key pillar of WAVES 2025 was CreatoSphere, an immersive platform designed to place creators at the centre of innovation across film, animation, gaming, VFX, music, comics and digital media. The platform enabled dialogue, collaboration and global showcasing of Indian talent.
The Create in India Challenges (CIC) Season-I emerged as one of the largest creative talent movements in the country, featuring 33 categories and receiving over one lakh entries from India and more than 60 countries. Over 750 finalists were showcased across eight creative zones at WAVES.
Prime Minister Modi interacted with young creators during the summit, while more than 150 creators were recognised at the WAVES Creator Awards by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav. CIC winners have since represented India at major international platforms including Melbourne, Toronto, Tokyo, Osaka and Madrid.
WaveX Startup Platform
WaveX, the startup-focused vertical of WAVES, supported over 200 startups in the media and entertainment ecosystem. More than 30 startups pitched to global industry leaders, while nearly 100 showcased innovations at exhibition booths.
Notably, WaveX-supported startups VYGR News and VIVA Technologies were selected to pitch on Shark Tank India. The initiative also launched KalaaSetu and BhashaSetu challenges to promote AI-driven creative solutions and real-time language translation tools, attracting participation from over 100 startups nationwide.
WaveX has established nine incubation centres across premier institutions including FTII Pune, SRFTI Kolkata, IICT Mumbai and multiple IIMC campuses, with 34 startups currently under incubation.
WAVES Bazaar and Global Outreach
WAVES Bazaar functioned as a global e-marketplace connecting Indian creators with international markets across films, animation, gaming, XR, music, podcasts and digital content. Between August and December 2025, the platform facilitated outreach across 12 international and four domestic industry events.
The engagements resulted in potential business discussions worth approximately ₹4,334 crore, over 9,000 structured B2B meetings, and multiple MoUs and collaboration frameworks, including the Indo-Japan Creative Corridor and India-Korea AVGC collaboration.
Indian Institute of Creative Technologies
The government has established the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), a National Centre of Excellence for AVGC-XR, with a budgetary support of ₹391.15 crore under a public-private partnership model. The first phase of IICT operations was inaugurated in July 2025 at the NFDC campus in Mumbai.
IICT has partnered with leading global technology firms including Google, Meta, NVIDIA, Microsoft and Adobe. A total of 18 courses have been launched, with over 100 students enrolled and eight startups currently incubated. Plans are underway for a permanent 10-acre campus at Film City, Goregaon.
Other Key Initiatives
The Ministry has also set up a Live Events Development Cell to promote India’s concert and live events economy, including efforts towards a single-window clearance system for permissions.
To address digital piracy, an inter-ministerial committee comprising key central ministries has been formed to strengthen enforcement and coordination.
In broadcasting, Doordarshan received the ECI Media Award for voter awareness during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, while the community radio network expanded to 551 stations nationwide.
The 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2025 in Goa screened over 240 films from 81 countries, alongside WAVES Film Bazaar, which saw participation from more than 2,500 delegates from over 40 countries.
Together, WAVES 2025 and associated initiatives underline India’s growing role as a global creative powerhouse and its commitment to fostering innovation, talent and international collaboration in the media and entertainment sector.
