Aimed at boosting the creative, entertainment, and digital industries in the country, the government on Thursday announced the launch of the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT), which will be established in Mumbai.
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw made the announcement on Thursday while addressing a gathering at the inaugural ceremony of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES-2025) at Jio World Centre in Mumbai. The first edition of the four-day summit will showcase the country’s creative industry.
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“Global tech giants such as NVIDIA, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Star India, Meta, and Adobe are collaborating to make IICT a world-class institution. WAVES and IICT will further strengthen Mumbai’s role as a key centre in the global creative ecosystem,” said the Union minister.
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Speaking about the Rs 400 crore project, Vaishnaw said that while the central government has funded the project, the land for it is being provided by the Maharashtra government.
Aimed at becoming a national centre of excellence, the IICT will be established by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on the lines of the Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management.
Detailing the multi-crore project, the Union Minister said it will be developed in two phases: the first at Peddar Road and the second inside the Film City in Goregaon. Designed to address fields such as animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, and extended reality (AVGC-XR), the institute is slated to feature state-of-the-art facilities, including virtual production set-ups, immersive studios, animation labs, gaming labs, edit and sound suites, as well as multiple smart classrooms, the Union Minister said.
Dubbing WAVES as “a city where the roads are paved not only with gold dust, but also with stardust,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Mumbai was an apt destination for the summit’s first edition.
“As we gather on Maharashtra Day—a day that marks not only the formation of our beloved state, but also celebrates its spirit of boldness, inclusivity, and forward-thinking—it is only fitting that we launch the Visionary Waves Summit in Mumbai. Mumbai, the entertainment capital of India and the cultural heartbeat of our nation, is a city where the roads are paved not only with gold dust, but also with stardust,” he said.
Stating that WAVES aims to build a bridge between India’s rich cultural heritage and its limitless digital future, the Maharashtra CM said he has always believed that the country’s next significant export is its imagination—its stories, music, innovation, and creative spirit.
“The entertainment economy is the new development engine for Maharashtra and India. Today, content travels faster than any commodity, and culture is the most significant export of any nation in the digital era. Maharashtra stands proudly at the forefront of this revolution,” he said.
Calling the government an invisible force, Fadnavis said there were “two types of people in the audience today.” “The creators, the ones building the ecosystem for these creators. And then there is a third, invisible force—the will of the government, under the leadership of our Prime Minister, to see this grand vision unfold,” he said.
Amidst much fanfare, the first edition of WAVES 2025 was inaugurated. Aiming to foster collaborations, innovation, and industry growth, WAVES brought together the entire Media and Entertainment (M&E) sector. Designed as a global convergence summit, WAVES served as a platform to connect India’s M&E industry with global markets and vice versa, facilitating the exchange of ideas, technologies, and talent.
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