I&B Secy Apurva Chandra & Actor R Madhavan inaugurate Media & Entertainment Fortnight at India Pavilion in Dubai Expo 2020

• Integrity Education, Delhi
• 19, Mar 2022

Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra and Actor R Madhavan today inaugurated the Media and Entertainment Fortnight at the India Pavilion in Dubai Expo 2020. The idea of the Media and Entertainment Fortnight being organized by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is to showcase India’s prowess in the sector and promote global collaborations and attract investments.

The Secretary had a meeting with chairman of Channel 2 Group Corporation Ajay Sethi. He apprised Mr Chandra of his company’s vision of starting a live radio channel in India dedicated to sports. Mr Sethi said, the current broadcasting of live cricket in India on radio lacks quality and content and there is a delay of around 11 seconds as well. The company has collaborated with stars including Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar. He added that the company is ready to invest in infrastructure, marketing and content and was seeking support in terms of channel from Government of India. Currently, they are in a 60:40 revenue sharing model with Prasar Bharati, but are not producing content. Mr Sethi informed the Secretary that his company operates FM channels in Dubai, TV channel in Kenya, Media City, cricket teams in Caribbean and South Africa, among other key activities.The company owns ICC global cricket radio rights. The Secretary assured all support from the Ministry to take this venture further.

In a round table discussion organised at the India Pavilion on the topic of Collaborating for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics AVGC content creation with India, Mr Chandra highlighted the opportunities in the AVGC sector in India. He also added that the Indian Media and Entertainment industry is one of the fastest growing and the most visible in the world. The Indian Media and Entertainment industry is valued at 28 billion dollars and is projected to reach 100 billion dollars by 2030 growing at a cumulative growth rate of 12 per cent. Mr Chandra said, India has talent and creative skill required in the industry. The Secretary mentioned that Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will set up an AVGC task force by end of this month with the purpose of formulating the AVGC policy to further facilitate the companies in the sector.

Actor R. Madhavan applauded the Government of India for their attention towards the AVGC sector and emphasized about the talent of Indians and its growth potential.

CEO of CBFC Ravinder Bhakar highlighted the importance of skilling and creating a talent pool that will benefit the Indian Media and Entertainment industry in the long run.

The round table saw a vast array of inputs from industry leaders from India, Dubai and other countries agreeing that India offers vast opportunities for outsourcing in the AVGC sector while also voicing the need for deeper collaboration between the two countries to foster stronger collaborations between the private sectors of India and Middle Eastern countries.
In the coming fortnight, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will participate in various events at the pavilion. The Ministry will also formalise a MoU with UAE for a mutually beneficial collaboration. The discussion will continue till next few months and MoU is expected to be signed in 6 to 8 months.

The upcoming Indian movie RRR was launched globally in the presence of Secretary Mr Chandra, director S. S. Rajamouli and actors Ram Charan and N. T. Rama Rao Junior. The launch was done in presence of the global media houses and various key delegates from India and UAE.

Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra is leading a delegation of the Ministry at the Expo. The delegation comprises of Director General Doordarshan Mayank Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the Ministry Vikram Sahay and CEO Central Board of Film Certification and Managing Director of National Film Development Corporation of India Ravinder Bhakar.

Sources : News on AIR