WAVES ushered new beginning in world of film, entertainment, media in India
VIVEK SHARMA
MUMBAI: Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday highlighted India’s immense potential to become a global leader in media and entertainment, saying this is also the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi “Measures taken at WAVES are the initial steps toward that goal,” he said after flagging off a series of strategic partnerships between the Indian Institute of Cinema and Technology (IICT) and leading industry giants.
The ceremony, held in the presence of Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Dr. L. Murugan and I&B Secretary Sanjay Jha, Sanjay Jha, PDG PIB marked a significant step toward nurturing talent and building a robust ecosystem for the country’s booming creative sector. “India has over a billion talented individuals, a civilization spanning 5,000 years, and countless stories waiting to be told. We have what it takes to lead globally in this space,” he declared, emphasizing the role of collaboration in achieving this vision. Vaishnaw lauded the industry’s overwhelming support for the initiative, saying: “Over the past two days, in many ways, a new beginning has taken place in the fields of film education, film entertainment, and media in India. This is a bold new step. The vision of the Prime Minister guides us. According to that vision, India has the power to take global leadership in the world of media and entertainment,” he remarked. “I am very happy that practically every senior executive I’ve met in the last two days has shown deep appreciation for this initiative and has expressed great willingness to work with us, to work with our institutions, and to help build these institutions for long-term sustainable growth.
There’s a genuine willingness to collaborate and invest in building long-term, sustainable institutions,” he said. He said that IICT is on track to evolve into a premier institution in its field, much like how IITs and IIMs have become benchmarks in technology and management education. He emphasized that IICT aims to become a “major institution” in the coming decades, likening its future trajectory to India’s globally respected IIT and IIM systems. “This is just the beginning. We’re setting a template for excellence and innovation. The government is fully committed to listening, adapting, and creating opportunities for our youth,” he added. “We are a very open-minded government.
Our Prime Minister always encourages us to listen and make the necessary changes that will help our young people, help our talent find the right opportunities. Thank you. I wish you all the very best,” he said. Vaishnaw informed reporters that discussions with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) were also on for a collaboration with IICT. He had a meeting with Daren Tang, the Director General of WIPO, on the sidelines of WAVES here on Friday. The IICT is being set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as a National Centre of Excellence on the lines of the prestigious IIT and IIM in strategic collaboration with trade body FICCI and industry body CII. The industry leaders present in the ceremony included Richard Kerris, (VP & GM, Media & Entertainment, Nvidia), Sanjog Gupta (CEO, Sports & Live Experiences, Jio Star), Mala Sharma (VP & GM – Education, Adobe), Preeti Lobana (Country Head & VP, Google India), Rajiv Malik (Senior Director, WACOM), Sandeep Bandibekar (Head of Sales, State Govt. & Healthcare), Sandeep Bandivdekar (Director, Mainstream Services Partners, Microsoft) and Sunil Abraham (Director, Public policy, Meta). Board members and governing council members of IICT present were Ashish Kulkarni, Biren Ghosh, Manvendra Shukul, Munjal Shroff, Chaitanya Chinchlikar, and Subhash Sapru. The Executive Team of IICT includes Dr. Vishwas Deoskar, IICT CEO, Ninad Raikar, IICT COO and Shweta Verma Lead Marketing IICT During the session, representatives from IICT and leading industry partners came together to exchange Letters of Intent (LoIs), marking the launch of long-term collaborative efforts aimed at advancing the AVGC-XR ecosystem in India.
The signings involved prominent global industry leaders including Jiostar, Adobe, Google, YouTube, and Meta. The event saw representatives from several top companies exchange Letters of Intent (LoIs) with IICT, signaling their commitment to work together in fostering innovation, education, and sustainable growth in the media domain. Among the first to formalize the partnership was Sanjog Gupta, CEO of Sports and Live Experiences at Jio Star, who exchanged the LoI with Ashish Kulkarni, Founding Director of IICT. Their collaboration is set to focus on creating immersive sports content and live experiences for audiences both in India and globally.
This was followed by Mala Sharma, VP & GM of Adobe for Education, partnering with Dr. Vishwas Devaskar, CEO of IICT, to enhance digital media education using Adobe’s cutting-edge creative tools. Representing Google and YouTube India, Preeti Lobana, Country Head and VP, joined hands with Manvendra Shukla, Director at IICT, and other key stakeholders including Rajeev Malik and Chaitanya from IICT. Their collaboration aims to amplify India’s creator economy and empower young content creators with global platforms. Sandeep Bangdekar, Head of Sales (State, Government, Healthcare) at Microsoft, also partnered with Subhash Sapo from IICT, focusing on leveraging cloud and AI solutions to transform media production workflows.
The global perspective was further strengthened with Richard Case, Global VP for Media and Entertainment at IBM, who exchanged the LoI with Munjal Shroff from IICT. Their partnership is poised to drive innovation in media technology and datadriven storytelling. Adding to this illustrious lineup, Meta was represented by Pallavi S, while Sunil Ibrahim, Director of Public Policy at Meta, worked alongside Virendra Ghosh from IICT to explore new frontiers in immersive content and responsible digital platforms. These alliances are designed to boost education, R&D and innovation across animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, film, and extended reality. The goal is to replicate India’s successful IT model within the creative and digital media space, developing a sustainable ecosystem for future growth.