India has seen a phenomenal growth of communication and communication technologies that has been accentuated by the growth in the number of mobile phones and smartphones in the country, said Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Information & Broadcasting; Environment, Forest & Climate Change; & Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, in his address at CII Big Picture Summit 2020 on Wednesday.
"We are a country where the growth of communication and communication technologies is phenomenal. We have now 1.2 billion mobile phones in the country, and we have 600 million smartphones--it's huge. In the world comparison also these numbers are mind blowing and therefore, what I am feeling is that there is tremendous scope for all kinds of entertainment and information business." said the Minister while complimenting CII for organizing the summit during a pandemic situation.
Highlighting the growth of AVGC sector, he recommended that it was high time that Indian film industry started benefitting from this emerging sector. "AVGC is a sunrise sector and our experts have been providing backend support to top filmmakers of the world. It is time that we start doing more of this for our own film industry. So that the use of animation and graphics grow many fold in the country. AVGC is a new dimension that we must cherish," he said.
Mr Javadekar also invited industry stakeholders to participate in the 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI) that will be held from 16th to 24th January next year in Goa.
The inaugural session also saw release of two industry reports -- The CII-BCG Big Picture: Lights, Camera, Action...the Show Goes On and the CII Summit FX report that captures key outcomes and highlights from the Global AVGC summit held earlier in September this year. CII also paid In Memoriam tribute video to movie luminaries who passed away this year during the inaugural session.
Shri Amit Khare Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, addressed the concerns raised by the industry regarding new reforms undertaken by the Government of India to bring "semblance to the online and offline media content".
"The idea behind the change, which was done in the month of November, was to bring the online and offline content at one place. In the past summits and in various media circles, particularly in the print circles, there used to be discussion that online and offline content should not be treated differently. It was done in order to bring some sort of not parity, not uniformity, but some semblance..."