In her Union Budget 2026-27 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a major expansion of India’s creative technology infrastructure. The government will support the establishment of animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics (AVGC) content creator labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges, in partnership with the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai.
The AVGC sector, part of India’s rapidly growing “Orange Economy,” is projected to require two million professionals by 2030. These labs aim to bridge the emerging skills gap and nurture talent for industries spanning animation, gaming, esports, and digital media.
The initiative builds on themes from the Economic Survey 2025-26, which highlighted creativity-led sectors—including culture, media, entertainment, and intellectual property—as engines for employment, urban services, and tourism. Termed the Orange Economy, these industries generate value primarily from ideas, artistic expression, and cultural capital rather than physical goods.
Live entertainment, concerts, and events form a key part of this ecosystem, acting as short-term tourism multipliers that increase demand for hospitality, transport, logistics, and local services. Globally, live music alone contributes significantly to GDP, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs in countries like the U.S. and the U.K. In India, the sector remains nascent but shows strong potential, bolstered by a young population, rising discretionary income, and expanding digital platforms.
The Budget also includes plans to establish a National Institute of Design through a competitive challenge route to address talent shortages in the design sector. This comes amid the gaming industry’s restructuring following the 2025 Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, which banned real money gaming while formally recognizing esports as a competitive sport. The regulatory change disrupted traditional revenue streams but opened opportunities for casual gaming and esports ecosystems, projected to grow at 30–35% annually.
By linking education, skill development, and industry growth, the government aims to position India as a global hub for content creation, esports, and animation, while integrating the Orange Economy into broader urban development and tourism strategies. Infrastructure investments, streamlined regulatory support, and targeted skills initiatives are design
