“For India’s M&E sector to grow, digital has to grow at a higher pace”: MIB's Sanjay Jaju at Storyboard18 DES 2025

In a special address that underscored the explosive growth of India’s digital entertainment economy, Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said digital now dominates the media and entertainment (M&E) landscape, accounting for over 55% of the nation’s advertising expenditure.

Speaking at Storyboard18’s Digital Entertainment Summit (DES) 2025, Jaju laid out a bold vision to make India a vanguard of global entertainment, powered by innovation, immersive technology, and inclusive growth.

“The digital segment is now definitely more than the non-digital segment,” Jaju said, adding that the industry must now enable the segment “to grow at a much brisker pace.” He pointed to the shifting dynamics in consumption, noting India’s mobile-first nature, with over 55 crore smartphone users, as a key factor driving this transformation.

While India has long been a creative powerhouse, the Secretary stressed that the digital medium has become central to its global aspirations. “Digital entertainment, being the core theme... has a huge share in the overall media and entertainment landscape,” he said, noting the growing importance of streaming platforms, gaming companies, animation and post-production studios, and the creator economy.

Read more: India is no longer just a consumer, we are global storytellers: MoS I&B Dr L Murugan at Storyboard18 DES 2025

Set against the backdrop of the government's landmark World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES), DES 2025 aims to spotlight policy innovations, new frontiers in gaming, and the tech ecosystem's next growth wave. The event unpacked India's strategy for leading the digital entertainment economy, with top policymakers outlining how talent, technology, and governance will fuel future-ready growth.

"WAVES: Declaration to the world..."

In his special address, Jaju highlighted that the recently held WAVES summit as a pivotal moment for India’s entertainment narrative. “WAVES is a movement being created for all of you, for the industry, for the content creators... it was actually a declaration to the world that we are ready to lead the creative economy of the future. It was through WAVES that we wanted to showcase our prowess to the rest of the world and the message went loud and clear."

He revealed that over 100 countries participated in the event and more than 75 signed a ministerial declaration focused on creative growth.

The Indian M&E industry has been undergoing rapid digitization, fueled by affordable data rates, deep smartphone penetration, and growing internet access. According to various industry estimates, India’s digital advertising market is poised to surpass Rs 70,000 crore by 2026. Events like WAVES- organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting— aim to position India as a global content and technology hub, uniting stakeholders across tech, film, gaming, streaming, and social media to co-create and export India’s soft power to the world.

Reflecting on the global response, Jaju shared that even international dignitaries were awed by the scale of India’s creative ecosystem at WAVES. “The minister from Japan made a very important claim... he said, ‘I have not seen an event of this scale in the media and entertainment landscape ever in my life,’” Jaju quoted, adding that the creativity on display at WAVES was “completely unparalleled.”

"Creative Excellence, Digital Innovation, and Inclusive Growth"

Addressing technological trends shaping the future, he said, “Artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI has been transforming every aspect of our life... from editing to dubbing to music production to animation, and M&E landscape is also bound to get affected.” Jaju emphasized the need to leverage immersive technologies to amplify India’s storytelling capabilities.

"We need to be also embracing large number of technological trends which are happening, these trends are going to shape the digital entertainment landscape as well."

He also called for a push toward more low-cost cinema halls, rural distribution, and international collaboration to expand India's creative commerce footprint. "Take cinema to the hinterland, take cinema to places where it does not exist today. Make it low cost so that you get more eyeballs and more people coming to watching cinema in a community manner."

At the same time, the Minister emphasized that the country also needs to provide opportunities and create infrastructure for getting content creators from outside the world, to come and make India the hub for their production. "...because we will not just offer them cost arbitrage, we will also offer them immense opportunities in terms of our own market, in terms of our own creators whose content is anyway going outside right now through various distribution channels. Our vision is to make India not just a participant but a vanguard in the global entertainment ecosystem."

The Minister also highlighted that there's no dearth of content within our country, "but what we require is the balance."

“Our next effort would be to take the sellers outside, and buyers from those countries can then join in,” he added, referring to the success of Bazaar, a content marketplace initiative launched at WAVES.

As a testament to the government’s commitment, Jaju announced that the Indian Institute of Creative Technology’s campus in Mumbai will be operational by September, offering incubation support for startups and creators.

In closing, Jaju outlined a three-pillar vision for the sector: Creative Excellence, Digital Innovation, and Inclusive Growth. “Let us co-create with our talent, with great Indian IPs... Our time has come and the future is now,” he declared. “Let us walk together, let us speak together, let our minds be united.”