Tamil Nadu IT Minister calls Online Gaming Act, a copy paste move

At the 17th India Game Developer Conference in Chennai, Dr P Thiaga Rajan told Storyboard18 that Tamil Nadu is pushing to become a national AVGC XR hub with a new policy that focuses on talent development, infrastructure and incentives.

He said traditional IT jobs are shrinking as automation accelerates, and AVGC is one of the few emerging sectors where innovation is sharply rising and start-up formation is exploding.

Rajan added that Tamil Nadu wants to move beyond pure subsidies and instead build a deep talent pipeline that industry can hire from, starting at school and college curriculum level.

Edited excerpts:

Tamil Nadu is hosting IGDC for the first time. How are you looking to grow the AVGC and gaming sector in the state and what policies are coming?

We are in an era where the technology sector is in deep flux. Routine work is getting automated. This is visible in manufacturing already and is now visible in white collar IT too. As the large service provider model declines, we are seeing an explosion in startups. Tamil Nadu has seen a six hundred percent increase in registered startups in four and a half years and half of them are women led.

Within this, we have been focused on AVGC XR. Three years ago we began work on a dedicated incentive policy. That policy is now ready and is in the final stage of clearance at Finance. The uniqueness is that it has been co developed with market players. This is a creative, high margin sector that requires specific skills which are not taught in colleges.

Our policy focuses strongly on talent. It aims to create the right talent pool through curriculum modifications at university level. It is comprehensive. I can say the four pillars - Education and skilling, Infrastructure development, Improving ease of doing business and Financial incentives.

What else will this policy include in terms of support structures?

It includes a facilitation cell in Elcot, an AVGC XR Bridge, a B2B marketplace, and a center of excellence in Chennai as the hub. Courses on game design, game programming, 2D and 3D animation and extended reality will begin at school level and go up to higher education. We also want to bridge the creative to tech skill gap which has historically existed.

Is there growing international collaboration around AVGC through IGDC coming to Chennai?

Yes. When I travel internationally, I study best practices. In France, in the Loire Valley, they have a cluster called Pixel Players. Based on their model, we advised our local companies to form clusters. They did. Pixel Players even visited Tamil Nadu.

This conference itself is a big step. IGDC has told us they like the facility and want to make this an annual event here. We have also engaged with larger global players. We met Krafton today. Nintendo has attended IGDC for the first time. Though there has been an unofficial market for Nintendo here, they have not officially entered India. We are trying to convince them to choose Chennai as their entry point and base.

Will Tamil Nadu become a GCC destination for gaming majors too?

We believe yes. These companies will eventually need GCCs. Tamil Nadu is already strong in BFSI GCCs and in large manufacturing. If we have the talent, Tamil Nadu is a natural GCC destination for gaming too.

What are the timelines for AVGC XR policy rollout?

It has been eight months in the making. Once Finance clears it, hopefully within a few days or weeks, it will be rolled out.

There is support for gaming but also a regulatory push through the Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority. Developers say regulation could stifle this sunrise sector. How do you see both sides?

Tamil Nadu tried multiple times to regulate the harms of gambling and RMG and faced pushback, then refined it, then got it upheld in court. Ours is the first court validated gaming regulatory authority in India. We distinguish clearly between real money games and other games. We have worked with the community and Home Department to keep it principles based instead of blunt rules based. We aim to reduce social harms without choking innovation and creativity.

This sector is new and when you are first, things take time. The Union has now legislated too. Many reasonable people say that their model is a copy of Tamil Nadu’s but executed in a blunt and late manner. The Centre legislating into state subjects is not new, it has happened across cooperatives, agriculture, minor ports and more. Is it ideal here? Probably not, especially since Tamil Nadu already had nuanced legislation that courts validated. But we will let the courts decide how the overlaps play out. Our intention is thoughtful regulation that encourages growth while protecting citizens.

Innovation always precedes regulation. For many years there was a total absence of regulation while bad outcomes from gambling happened. Tamil Nadu tried multiple times to regulate, faced legal challenges, refined it, and then had it upheld by the courts. We now have a validated regulatory authority. We have also worked with the gaming community to make the framework principles based rather than blunt and rules based. Has it been perfect? Probably not. But when you are first, things take time.

The Union government has now legislated too. Reasonable people say their law is a copy of Tamil Nadu’s approach but with a blunt hammer model. Courts will decide. We want thoughtful regulation that curtails social harms while not choking innovation.

Does the Centre’s law violate federal structure then?

This is not the first time the Union has legislated in state subjects. Cooperatives. Agriculture. Minor ports. Many such examples exist. Is it ideal? Probably not, especially for Tamil Nadu which already had nuanced legislation. But this is not new.

What kind of financial incentives can the community expect and what is the scale?

The GCC policy is already in effect with incentives. The AVGC policy will have its own incentives but I will not preempt the financial numbers before Finance clears it. Policies set a floor. Actual incentives given to industry are usually above that floor. If an entity qualifies under both GCC and AVGC, they get both benefits.