GS Paper 2
Syllabus: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors
Source: TH
Direction: The article discusses a relatively new sector in India, the AVGC sector, and recommendations to promote the sector given its enormous growth potential.
Context: The AVGC Promotion Task Force (Chaired by I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra) report has proposed a national AVGC-Extended Reality Mission with a budget outlay to be created for integrated promotion and growth of the sector.
Background:
- The Union Budget 2022-23 announced the formation of an AVGC Promotion Task Force to realise and develop – local capacity, and local and global demand, to widen the scope of the AVGC industry.
- Accordingly, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has established an AVGC Promotion Task Force.
- The Task Force’s Terms of Reference include:
- Developing a national AVGC policy.
- Recommend a national curricular framework for AVGC-related graduate, postgraduate, and doctoral courses.
- Collaborate on skilling initiatives with academic institutions, vocational training centres and industry.
- Increase employment opportunities.
- Increase exports and recommend incentives to attract FDI in the AVGC sector, etc.
About the AVGC sector in India:
- Current situation: The AVGC sector in India, which may have witnessed 28% growth in 2021, contributes about $2.5-3 billion of the estimated $260-275 billion worldwide AVGC market and employs about 1.85 lakh AVGC professionals.
- Nature (Expanding): India has moved into the global Top 5 in the gaming industry and can witness a growth of 14-16% in the next decade and by 2023, the number of online gamers is expected to reach 45 crores.
- Potential:
- To become a $40 billion industry (5% of the global market) by 2025, with annual growth of 25-30% and the creation of about 1,60,000 new jobs.
- As a result, it has the potential to become the “Create in India” and “Brand India”
- Challenges: Despite the fact that the AVGC sector in India is rapidly growing, there remains a vacuum due to a lack of formal gaming training courses and legal clarity.
Recommendations of the Task Force:
- Draft national and State policies: For the promotion of the sector.
- Launch the ‘Create in India’ campaign: With an exclusive focus on content creation.
- An international AVGC platform: Aimed at attracting foreign direct investment (FDI).
- Co-production treaties and innovation:
- A Memorandum of Cooperation may be signed between India and other developed global AVGC markets – U.S., Japan, South Korea, and Germany, for providing internships to Indian AVGC professionals.
- Establishment of AVGC accelerators and innovation hubs in academic institutions.
- National and regional centres of excellence: For skill development.
- The skilling and industry outreach for youth in Tier 2 and 3 towns and villages.
- There should be special incentives for women entrepreneurs in the sector.
- Leveraging National Education Policy: To develop creative thinking at the school level. The Ministry of Education may advise NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) to create books focusing on subjects relevant to AVGC.
- A University Grants Commission (UGC)-recognised curriculum: For undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.
- Standardisation of admission tests: For AVGC-related courses.
- A framework to protect child rights in the digital world and promotion of local children’s channels for raising awareness.
Way ahead:
- Democratising AVGC technologies by promoting subscription-based pricing models for MSMEs, start-ups and institutions.
- Indigenous technology development through incentive schemes and Intellectual Property creation.
- Setting up a dedicated production fund for domestic content creation to promote the country’s culture and heritage globally.
Conclusion:
With an eye on the demand for 20 lakh skilled professionals in the AVGC sector in this decade, there is a need to augment skilling initiatives and enhance industry participation for training purposes and to ensure employment opportunities.
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