[Answered] Examine the concept of the ‘Orange Economy’ as envisioned in the Union Budget 2026. Evaluate the institutional and policy frameworks required to harness India’s creative industries for socio-economic empowerment and the enhancement of its global soft power.

Introduction

Globally valued at over $2 trillion and employing 50 million people (UNESCO), the creative economy has emerged as a growth frontier; Budget 2026 formally integrates India’s ‘Orange Economy’ into national development strategy.

Understanding the ‘Orange Economy’: Concept and Origins

1. The ‘Orange Economy’ refers to economic activities where value originates from creativity, culture, ideas and intellectual property.
2. The term was popularised by Iván Duque Márquez and Felipe Buitrago in their 2013 book The Orange Economy: An Infinite Opportunity, associating ‘orange’ with culture, creativity and identity.
3. It encompasses cultural industries (heritage, crafts, performing arts) and creative industries such as design, fashion, cinema, music, advertising, architecture, and the fast-growing AVGC sector (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics).
4. For India, with its civilisational depth and demographic dividend, the orange economy represents a convergence of economic growth, employment generation and cultural diplomacy.

Orange Economy in Union Budget 2026: Strategic Recognition

1. The Union Budget 2026 mainstreams the creative economy as a services-led growth engine. Key announcements include the expansion of AVGC content creator labs across 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges through the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai, addressing the projected demand of two million professionals by 2030.
2. The proposal for a new National Institute of Design in eastern India aims at regional balance in creative education.
3. Further, the development of 15 archaeological sites into immersive cultural destinations reflects a shift from monument-centric tourism to an experience-based heritage economy, leveraging digital storytelling and interpretation technologies.”

Socio-Economic Empowerment Potential

1. India’s creative industries already contribute nearly $30 billion and employ about 8% of the workforce (MoHUA, 2024).
2. Budgetary emphasis on AVGC, live entertainment and design can create high-value, non-routine jobs resilient to automation.
3. Case studies such as the Jaipur Literature Festival—contributing over ₹100 crore to the local economy in five days—demonstrate strong spillovers to hospitality, MSMEs and urban services.
4. Creative clusters can also empower women, informal artists and rural artisans, aligning with inclusive growth and vocal-for-local objectives.”

Institutional and Policy Frameworks Required

1. To unlock this potential, robust institutional support is essential. First, IPR strengthening is critical to protect creators, especially in the age of AI-generated content and digital piracy, echoing WIPO recommendations.
2. Second, regulatory simplification, including single-window clearances for events and productions, is necessary to reduce transaction costs.
3. Third, granting the creative sector formal ‘industry status’ would ease access to credit, insurance and venture capital.
4. Fourth, export promotion frameworks—similar to South Korea’s support for the ‘Hallyu wave’—can scale India’s cultural exports, enhancing soft power.
5. Finally, skill development must be aligned with NEP 2020 to integrate arts, technology and entrepreneurship.”

Orange Economy and India’s Global Soft Power

1. The creative economy functions as a tool of non-coercive influence, projecting narratives, values and identities.
2. India’s cinema, gaming content, festivals and heritage tourism reinforce cultural diplomacy, complementing initiatives like ‘Festivals of India’ abroad.
3. As Joseph Nye argues, soft power flows from attraction rather than coercion—an advantage India can amplify through creative exports.”

Conclusion

As President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam envisioned culture-led development, the Orange Economy can transform India’s demographic dividend into creative capital, provided institutions convert cultural abundance into sustainable livelihoods and global influence.