Indian Union Budget 2022: Finance Minister Provisions an AVGC Task Force to Promote Gaming, Comics, and Animation.
In today’s annual budget for the year 2022-2023 Finance Minister — Nirmala Sitharaman announced a special task force with the aim to promote the animation, visual effects, comic, and gaming (AVCG) industry within India.
The main aim of the task force is to develop and build up domestic capacity and to serve the global market. Speaking on the floor of the House, FM said that the “AVCG industry offers immense potential as a form of entertainment and employment for the youth.”
AVGC Promotion Task Force
“An AVGC promotion task force, with all stakeholders, will be set up to recommend ways to realize this and build domestic capacity for serving out markets and the global demand,” —FM, Nirmala Sitharaman said.
Currently, the gaming industry consumption is steadily rising in India, but at the same time majority of this consumption comes from Internationally produced products. While domestic production and demand are on the rise, the increase is not significant enough for the industry to offer mass employment and generate any significant revenue.
With the setup of the special task force, the GOI aims to increase domestic production in the industry to serve local and international demand. This will in turn provide employment opportunities within the country which at present is facing a high unemployment rate among its youth as well as open another revenue stream for the government later.
Gaming in India, fastest growing
India is among the top five mobile gaming markets in the world. The gaming industry in India is currently valued at $930 mn and is estimated to grow at 41% each year.
Venture capital funding for the Indian gaming startups stood at $350 mn between 2014-2020 and it is growing at a CAGR of 22%. The high internet penetration rate and low cost of the internet play a major role in driving the online gaming sector in India.
India emerged as one of the fastest-growing gaming markets in the world, with growth in new paying users, now at 50%. Currently, 20% of gamers pay for games.
