India must move beyond being a Content Consumer to become a World Leader in Content Creation: Union Minster Gajendra Singh Shekhawat addresses at FICCI FRAMES 2026

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting India must move beyond being a Content Consumer to become a World

Leader in Content Creation: Union Minster Gajendra Singh Shekhawat addresses at FICCI FRAMES 2026 Authenticity, Human Creativity and Indian Stories will shape

the future of content: Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Posted On: 29 SEP 2026 5:19PM by PIB Mumbai Mumbai, 29 September 2026 The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) hosted the 26th edition of FICCI FRAMES, its annual global convention on the business of Media and Entertainment, in Mumbai today. The event brought together policymakers, industry leaders, creators and innovators to deliberate on the future of India’s creative economy and its growing global influence.

Addressing the 26th edition of FICCI FRAMES 2026, Union Minister for Tourism & Culture, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, said that the theme of the convention, “India’s Media Moment:

Creating Value in an Age of Infinite Content”, is not only relevant but imperative in today’s time. “It is an era of infinite content, and our biggest challenge is not shortage of content but originality and human connection. It is the trust which is invaluable and we need to work to protect the trust on priority,” he said.Shri Shekhawat emphasised that “Authenticity, human creativity and Indian stories will shape the future of content”. He stressed the importance of taking India’s creative ecosystem beyond metropolitan centres, noting that stories from small cities and towns can enrich the content industry while creating new opportunities for tourism. He also highlighted that with widespread access to digital platforms, everyone can be a creator, bringing both opportunity and responsibility to the emerging content ecosystem.

India, he added, possesses not only content but also context, along with a rich diversity and tradition of storytelling. “India is the largest center of creativity for the world. Today, it is the time to advance India’s culture, economy, employment, global standing and tourism, together.

This is our creative capital,” said Shri Shekhawat.

Emphasising three key changes, Shri Shekhawat said, “We must move beyond making India just a content consumer and work together to make it a world leader in content creation and creativity. Second, we must move beyond the scale of our audience and build original Indian intellectual property and third, we must connect the India seen on screen with the experience of travelling through the real India, so that stories inspire tourism and tourism creates local prosperity.” Speaking about newer technologies and opportunities, Shri Shekhawat said that the creative economy can generate significant opportunities across various sub-sectors, including Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC), Extended Reality (XR), gaming, virtual production and Artificial Intelligence. He said these technologies are emerging as new languages of storytelling.

Addressing the gathering at FICCI FRAMES, Shri Prabhat, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, highlighted the importance of Government-industry collaboration in shaping the future of India’s Media and Entertainment sector. “The industry must move from views to values,” he said, emphasising that sustainable growth requires investment in intellectual property, creators, skills and long-term value creation.Shri Prabhat highlighted key initiatives under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting’s WAVES ecosystem, including greater impetus to the AVGC sector, the establishment of the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) to strengthen specialised skills and opportunities, and WAVES Bazaar as a year-round marketplace connecting the creative sector with markets and opportunities.

Acclaimed actor and FICCI FRAMES Ambassador Shri Ayushmann Khurrana said, “A story can begin in a small town in India and find an audience anywhere in the world. A creator with a phone can reach millions. That is the opportunity in front of us. We have more stories, more voices, and more ways to share them than ever before, and a chance to take India's creative imagination to an even bigger global stage.”FICCI President and Vice Chairman, RPG Group, Shri Anant Goenka, said that India must convert its scale into lasting value and ensure that its stories remain unmistakably Indian. “We should give Indian storytellers the confidence, capital, technology and reach to go global, without removing what makes their work Indian,” he added.

During the event, the FICCI FRAMES Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Shri Uday Shankar, Past President, FICCI and Vice-Chairman, JioStar, by Union Minister for Tourism & Culture Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, in recognition of his contribution and leadership in shaping India’s Media and Entertainment industry.

Receiving the award, Shri Uday Shankar said, “Media continues to be a fundamental pillar of society. It is the foundation on which society's imagination, society's vision for the future, and individuals' aspirations for a better life, for a better world, for a better country are shaped.” Shri Kevin Vaz, Chair, FICCI Media & Entertainment Committee and CEO, Entertainment, JioStar, said that as new value pools emerge, the industry also needs the right conditions to grow and innovate. He emphasised the importance of an enabling regulatory environment, self-regulation and strong industry best practices as the sector enters its next phase of growth.The 26th edition of FICCI FRAMES brought together stakeholders from across the Media and Entertainment ecosystem to discuss emerging technologies, evolving content models, intellectual property, creative talent, global opportunities and the future of India’s creative economy.

* * * PIB Mumbai | Edgar Coelho/Darshana Rane

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