India’s inaugural WAVES 2025 summit puts focus on creator economy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated India’s first World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES 2025)—an event to position the country as a global hub for digital media and creative industries and focus on creator economy.

The four-day summit was held at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai and is expected to bring together more than 10,000 delegates, 1,000 creators, 300 companies, and 350 startups from across 90 countries.

WAVES 2025 will cover a wide range of sectors such as broadcasting, animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, and extended reality, apart from infotainment, films, and digital media, holding more than 100 sessions, including plenaries, breakouts, and masterclasses.

During the inaugural session, Modi said the summit comes at a time when India is witnessing a “sunrise era” of the “Orange Economy,” driven by content, creativity, and culture.

“Whether they are musicians from Guwahati, podcasters from Kochi, game designers in Bengaluru, or filmmakers in Punjab, their contributions are fueling India’s growing creative sector,” the prime minister said.

The government had earlier announced the establishment of a $1 billion fund to support India’s creator economy. The fund will help creators gain access to capital, upgrade production quality, and expand globally.

Additionally, Rs391 crore has been sanctioned for the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT), which will focus on skill development in creative and digital fields.

The government also launched WAVES Bazaar, an e-marketplace to connect Indian creators with global buyers and collaborators to facilitate project pitching, networking, and global content distribution.

Social media firm YouTube announced a Rs850 crore investment over the next two years to support India’s growing creator economy.

“YouTube’s ability to connect a creator anywhere with audiences EVERYWHERE has made it a powerful engine of cultural export, and few nations have leveraged this as effectively as India,” YouTube chief executive officer (CEO) Neal Mohan said. “Today, India isn’t just a world leader for film and music – it’s rapidly becoming what I’m excited to call a ‘Creator Nation.’”

Mohan noted that YouTube has paid Rs21,000 crore to Indian creators, artists, and media companies over the past three years.

In the past year alone, more than 100 million Indian YouTube channels uploaded content, with more than 15,000 channels reaching the milestone of one million subscribers. Content produced in India also recorded 45 billion hours of watch time from international audiences last year.

The digital content landscape in India has been growing at a lightning speed, mainly because of greater access to affordable internet. This has enabled lakhs of youth to become content creators on platforms like YouTube.

In a statement last year, Modi said that the creator economy had the potential in achieving India’s goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy.

Citing legendary actor Raj Kapoor’s role in shaping India’s cinematic influence abroad, he said how current lot of creators can carry forward that legacy by showcasing Indian culture and knowledge to the world.

According to a report by EY, the influencer economy—a significant part of the larger creator economy—has substantial growth potential. The report noted that 86% of influencers in India expect to see a rise in income over the next two years, supported by the growing popularity of short video platforms and increased brand investment across sectors such as FMCG, automobiles, and consumer durables.