WAVES 2025: India’s Vision to Become the Global Entertainment Tech Powerhouse

WAVES 2025—the inaugural World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit—marked a decisive leap for India’s creative and technological ambitions. Held from May 1 to 4, 2025, at Mumbai’s Jio World Convention Centre, the event was championed by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and designed as a global stage to align India’s media and entertainment sectors with next-generation technologies, cross-border collaborations, and creative excellence. Over four days, this summit showcased India’s readiness to become a cultural and economic hub for global entertainment technology.

Global Media Convergence

The summit gathered leaders from over 90 countries, offering an unprecedented networking opportunity for the global entertainment industry. With more than 100,000 visitors, the event became a meeting point for international media giants such as Netflix, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Adobe. India’s homegrown creative powerhouses—Balaji Telefilms and Yash Raj Films—stood proudly alongside them. Influential figures like Mukesh Ambani, Alia Bhatt, and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella further underlined the summit’s global relevance.

Economic Impact

The WAVES Bazaar emerged as a cornerstone of economic activity, facilitating business deals exceeding ₹1,300 crore. These transactions reinforced India’s position as a growth engine in the global creative economy. The summit’s influence extended beyond the venue, impacting both national and international entertainment markets with immediate and measurable results.

Technological Showcase & Startups

The summit served as a high-powered launchpad for cutting-edge technologies. Sessions explored AI’s role in media, immersive AR/VR experiences, the rise of generative content, and advanced VFX. Startups were placed in the spotlight through the WaveXcelerator and Create in India Challenge, where innovators pitched their projects and competed for awards that recognized disruptive creativity.

Institution Building

One of WAVES 2025’s defining legacies was the establishment of the Indian Institute of Creative Technology in Mumbai. Modeled on the IIT/IIM framework, IICT was created with an investment of ₹400 crore to nurture talent across AVGC-XR fields—animation, visual effects, gaming, and extended reality. This initiative signaled a deep commitment to fostering specialized education and innovation infrastructure.

Cultural & Creative Programming

The Bharat Pavilion offered visitors a journey through India’s heritage with immersive cultural zones. State pavilions highlighted the diversity of regional creative industries, while performances by classical artists celebrated India’s artistic traditions. A major highlight was the WESC 2025 international esports championship, where India secured two gold medals—cementing its growing influence in competitive gaming.

Strategic Investments

WAVES 2025 also became a hub for strategic investment announcements. A $1 billion fund was unveiled to strengthen the creator economy, complemented by a ₹150-crore state-level creative economy fund. High-profile partnerships, such as the collaboration between Dream Sports and Microsoft, demonstrated the rapid scaling potential of esports in India’s entertainment landscape. This was also the point where the global and tech-driven nature of India’s creative industries naturally connected with broader economic sectors such as online casino India, linking entertainment with fast-growing digital economies.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the summit, emphasizing its role as both a cultural and economic beacon for India. His address highlighted the balance between preserving heritage and embracing technology, positioning WAVES as a strategic tool for national branding on the world stage.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting played a pivotal role in shaping the success of WAVES 2025. Beyond orchestrating the summit’s smooth execution, the Ministry took the lead in conceptualizing and establishing the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT), positioning it as a cornerstone for fostering innovation and capacity building in India’s media, entertainment, and creative tech sectors for years to come. This initiative signaled a commitment to nurturing homegrown talent while attracting global expertise, ensuring that India’s creative industries remain competitive in an evolving digital landscape.

The event brought together top-tier industry leaders, visionaries, and innovators from across the globe who explored fresh storytelling methods, advanced intellectual property strategies, and emerging distribution models. These high-level discussions have already laid the groundwork for collaborations that could materialize into co-productions, cross-border investments, and expanded access to new markets.

Public reception of WAVES 2025 was overwhelmingly positive, with commentators praising its blend of cultural heritage and cutting-edge technology. The dual impact of launching IICT and attracting substantial capital investment has strengthened the narrative of India as a future global hub for entertainment technology, setting the stage for transformative growth in the decades ahead.