Parliament Question: Partnerships with global tech companies to support National Centre of Excellence

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3294 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026 PARTNERSHIPS WITH GLOBAL TECH COMPANIES TO SUPPORT NATIONAL CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 3294: DR. DINESH SHARMA Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING be pleased to state: a) the key components and objectives of WAVES Bazaar as a global e-marketplace for the film and animation sectors; b) the manner in which the inclusion and international participation evolved in the recent editions of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI); c) whether the Ministry has established strategic partnerships with global technology companies to support the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR); d) if so, the details thereof; and e) the time when the Creative Minds of Tomorrow (CMOT) programme extended its support to 100 young talents and the impact of this expansion? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS. (DR. L. MURUGAN) (a) to (e) WAVES Bazaar is a marketplace and engagement platform to promote India’s Media & Entertainment (M&E) sector across films, animation, VFX, gaming, immersive media, music, and digital content. Envisioned as a “craft-to-commerce” initiative, WAVES Bazaar enables structured business discovery, market access, investment facilitation, and international collaboration for Indian creators, studios, startups, and institutions. The Government has established strategic partnerships with several global technology companies to support the National Centre of Excellence (NCoE) for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) - the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT). The collaborations aim to support the IICT through curriculum development, skill development programmes, internships, research and development support, startup incubation, scholarships and industry mentorship, thereby strengthening the AVGC-XR ecosystem in the country.IFFI aims to be inclusive in terms of participation of countries, genres of films, styles of production, thematic concerns and audience appeal. Over the last 3 years, the number of countries from which films have been submitted to the festival has increased from 106 in 2023 to 127 in 2025. In the final line-up of films, international participation has increased from 79 countries in 2023 to 84 countries in 2025. Genres, styles and themes also have registered an impressive rise in IFFI's film bouquet. The delegate fee is kept at low threshold of just ₹1000/- for the entire length of the festival. All screening venues of the festival have been made accessible for Divyangjan. In 56th IFFI, many films had closed captions and audio descriptions for making it accessible. The Creative Minds of Tomorrow (CMOT) was launched in 2021 during the International Film Festival of India. It was to identify, recognize, and nurture young creative talent in the field of filmmaking. The CMOT has expanded its support to 225 young talents in last two years. *******